BL 2775 
,G6 
Copy 1 




The Voice of Reason 



Truthful Echoes 



HENRY GOLDBERG 



Boston : 

INVESTIGATOR COMPANY 
1901 



The Voice of Reason 



Truthful Echoes 



/ 
HENRY GOLDBERG 






Boston : 

INVESTIGATOR COMPANY 
1901 






THE LIBRARY O 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copies Received 

iUL 10 1901 

Copyright entry 

CLASS CLxXe. N» 

COPY B. 



Copyrighted 1D01 

by 

Henry GOldbekCx. 




HENRY GOLDBERG. 



Contents. 



What is God? Page 4 

The Holy Bible and Book of Nature . . 42 

Moses and the Bible Miracles . . . 81 

Is a Universal Brotherhood of Man Pos- 
sible without a Universal Religion? . 119 

Immortality, or Continued Existence . . 159 



PREFACE 



It seems to me that, in this time, we should have ar- 
rived at that stage of progression where we have left 
behind us the days in which men persist in saying that 
it does not make any difference what a person believes, 
so long as he who has a belief is sincere in that belief. 

If that is the case, Ihen the Carthagenian mothers 
were justified in offering their infant children as a sac- 
rifice to their god, because they sincerely believed that 
such offerings were pleasing to their god and appeased 
his anger. The Carthagenian mothers were so sincere 
in this belief, that when they brought their infants in 
their arms, ready to throw them into a glowing furnace, 
they stilled their children's cries by fond caresses until 
the moment they were handed over to the image which 
stood ready to receive them. Those Carthagenian 
mothers carried their sincerity to such a high degree 
that they thought that if they manifested any reluct- 
ance in offering up their children the sacrifice would be 
unacceptable to their god. 

The bigoted Torquemada sincerely believed that he 
was doing God a good service when he tortured on the 
rack thousands of human beings, whose only crime was 
that they dared to do their own thinking. 

The Puritans were justified in hanging many inno- 
cent and noble women because they sincerely believed 
that those women were witches, who practiced the so 
called Black Art. 



2 THE VOICE OF REASON 

This shows that it makes a great difference whether 
a person believes in something rational or irrational. 
The idea that it makes no difference what a person be- 
lieves, is the talk of babies and not of men, of the fool- 
ish and not of the wise, of the indolent and not of the 
energetic. Any intelligent person ought to know that 
to believe what is true is far preferable to believing 
that which is false. To hold truth is cerlainly better 
than to hold error; and he who is clinging to the false 
will do well to turn from all erroneous belief as soon as 
the light of truth flashes in upon him, under the firm 
conviction that truth is to be more highly esteemed 
than error; that truth will enlighten and benefit, while 
error will darken and degrade. 

It seems very strange to us, when we look into the 
bewildering, inextricable jungle of delusions, confu- 
sions, falsehoods and absurdities covering the whole 
field of human life, and it fills us with pstonishment, 
with disgust, and almost with incredulity, that man, 
who is supposed to be the highest in the scale of the 
animal kingdom, and who is capable of reasoning, 
should believe in such absurdities. 

It is not easy to understand how sane people could 
calmly, with their eyes open, believe and live by such a 
set of doctrines; how man could worship his fellow man 
as a God. Yet, on careful consideration, we can easily 
see why it is. The reason is, that people have had in 
stilled into them from childhood the traditional doctrine 
of the man God, and it has become a part of their very 
thought and life; it seems almost impossible for them 
to get rid of it. They are so well satisfied with the 
speciousness of this error that they do not want to part 
with it; even though it is false many prefer to cling to 



AND TRUTHFUL EC HOE*. 3 

it; they are even unwilling to give a candid considera- 
tion to the views held by Rationalists, but they think 
that they must at all hazards maintain the musty dogmas 
of the Dark Ages. 

I wish it distinctly understood that it was not preju- 
dice against the prevailing beliefs which induced me to 
write the following essays; it was the love of truth and 
the voice of reason that spurred me on to write them. 
He who has* the courage of his convictions is a far 
greater hero than he who dies on the field of battle. It 
requires greater courage to speak the truth in the pres- 
ence of a bigoted and superstitious mob than to face the 
canuon's mouth. 

It is a well known fact that whoever endeavors to ex- 
pose the existing superstitious beliefs is called a blas- 
phemer; but if speaking the truth is blasphemy, then I 
prefer to be a blasphemer rather than a sainted liar, 
and if I gain the commendation of one intelligent per- 
son it will more than offset the condemnation of ten 
thousand ignorant ones. Some people say that the ma- 
jority rules. This statement holds good as regards the 
election to office but not where common sense is con- 
cerned, so in this case the minority will rule. 

One scientific truth is of more value and more benefit 
to the human race at large than ail the theological non- 
sense combined; and I believe that in every case service 
in a true cause is better, and carries with it more far- 
reaching and abiding influence, than service in one 
that is false. 

I believe that heroic endurance of hardship for a pro- 
found conviction outweighs all the honors that may 
come through actions, however brilliant, that are done 
in conformity to a popular superstitious belief. 



WHAT IS GOD?" 



"What is God?" has been the question for ages. 
When the primitive man perceived the sun shine in ef- 
fulgence he was wrapped in astonishment; his whole 
being was lit by its radiance; his heart was filled with 
admiration, and he reverently bowed down in worship 
before it. This was the first conception which he had 
of a God. Then he perceived the earth, with its beau- 
tiful vegetation, the restless sea, the irresistible storm, 
the rivers, the thunder and the lightning, all the mighty 
agencies of Nature impressed him, and every display 
thereof which he beheld he discerned to be a god; and 
by the power of his imagination he invested all natural 
things with a personality. Thus we find the ancient 
Egyptians worshiping the god Ammon-Ra, which means 
the source of light and of life, the lord of existence and 
the support of all things. Khem was another God. He 
was the generative principle, the power of life. He 
presided over the vegetable world and was the god of 
fertility, the lord of Ihe harvest and the patron of agri- 
culture. He was called the king of the gods, the lifter 
of the hand, the Lord of the crown and the Almighty. 

Osiris was recognized as the presiding lord of the 
lower world, the king and the judge of Hades. His 
worship was universal throughout Egypt; he was called 
the manifester of good, full of goodness and truth, the 
beneficent spirit, mild of heart and was beloved by all. 
The Egyptians not only worshiped the sun, the moon 



THE VOICE OF REASON. 5 

and the stars as gods, but they also worshiped live ani- 
mals. Specimens of them were attached to the tem- 
ples, kept in shrines, and carefully fed and nurtured 
during life, and at death embalmed and buried in sacred 
repositories. The reason why the Egyptians worshiped 
animais was because they thought that a deity became 
incarnate in an individual animal, and so remained un- 
til its death. Animals to which this was supposed to 
have happened were actual gods and received the most 
profound veneration which it was possible to pay. 

When the primitive man emerged from his savage 
state into a more civilized one, his mode of thinking 
changed. Thus we find the Assyrians believing in the 
god Asshur. His title was the great Lord, the king of 
all the gods, he who rules supreme over the gods. He 
is also called the father of the gods. The people of 
Assyria are his people, the armies are the armies of the 
god Asshur, the enemies of the Assyrians are the ene- 
mies of Asshur; he places the kings upon their thrones, 
firmly establishes them in the government, lengthens 
the years of their reign, preserves their power, pro- 
tects their forts and armies, directs their expeditions, 
gives them victory on the day of battle, makes their 
name celebrated and to him they look for the fulfill- 
ment of all their wishes. The Assyrians represent 
themselves as exposing their lives in his service. It is 
to extend his worship that they carry on their wars; 
they fight, ravage and destroy in his name; and, when 
they subdue a country, they make the conquered people 
conform to his laws. The Assyrian belief in the god 
Asshar corresponds exactly with the Jewish belief in 
Jehovah. 

The Jews also claim that they are the chosen people 



6 THE VOICE OF REASON 

of Jehovah, their enemies are hia euemies als©; they 
are his servants, he fights their battles and takes spe- 
cial care of them, he is the arbiter of their destiny, and 
all their doings are his will. 

The Chaldean god Bel is the God of Lords, the father 
of the gods; he is the creator, the mightv prince, and 
the just prince of the gods We are told that the god 
Bel made the heaven and the earth, and he made man 
by means of a mixture of his own blood with earth, 
and also made beasts, and that afterward he created 
the sun, the moon, the stars and the five planets. We 
also find that there was war in heaven. The Chaldeans 
believed that seven angels, created by Bel to be his 
messengers, took counsel together and resolved to revolt 
against high heaven, the dwelling-place of Bel, the 
king. They plotted evil, and unexpectedly made a 
tierce attack, but the god Bel withstood them. There 
was then peace for a while, but once more, at a later 
date, a fresh revolt broke out. The hosts of heaven 
were assembled together, and were engaged in singing 
a psalm of praise to the god Bel, when discord arose. 
With a loud cry of contempt, a portion of the angelic 
choir broke up the holy song, uttering wicked blasphe- 
mies, their -leader took the form of a dragon, and, in 
that shape, contended with the god Bel, who proved 
victorious in the combat, and slew his adversary by 
means of a thunderbolt, which he flung into the creat- 
ure's open mouth. Upon this, the entire host of the 
wicked angels took to flight and were driven to the 
abode of the seven evil spirits, their return to heaven 
being prohibited. In their stead a man was created. 
There must be some truth in this rebellion because the 
Holy Bible speaks of it. 



AND TKUTIIFUL ECHOES. 7 

There is no doubt that the people of to-day pronounce 
the so-called heathen gods as false, and the people who 
worshiped them as fools, but such was not the case, 
The people who worshiped these gods were sincere, 
they worshiped by prayer and by praise the same as 
the people of to-day. Prayer was offered both for one's 
self and for others. The sinfulness of sin was deeply 
felt, and the divine anger deprecated with much ear- 
nestness. u Oh, my Lord," says one supplicant, "my 
sins are many, my trespasses are great, and the wrath 
of the gods has plagued me with disease, and sickness 
and sorrow. I fainted, but no one stretched forth his 
hand; I groaned, but no one drew nigh; I cried aloud, 
but no one heard. Oh, Lord, do not abandon thy serv- 
ant in the waters of the great storm, do thou lay hold 
of my hands; the sius I have committed, do thou turn 
to righteousness." If we were to ask a religious person 
if the prayer of the so-called heathen supplicant was 
answered, he would say, "NoP Wh\? Because the 
prayer was addressed to a false god; yet the poor de- 
luded heathen thought that his prayer was answered 
the same as the pious Christian thinks that Christ an- 
swers his prayer, but it will be impossible to make the 
Jew believe that such is the case. 

The Parsees believed in two uncreated principles 
— a principle of good and a principle of evil. The 
Parsees held that from all eternity, there had existed 
two migtty and rival beings, the author of all other 
existence?, who had been engaged in a perpetual con- 
test, each seeking to injure, to baffle, and, in every 
way, to thwart each other. Both principles were real 
persons possessed of will, of intelligence, of power, of 
consciousness and of other personal qualities. To the 



8 THE VOICE OF SEASON 

one they gave the name "Ahura-Mazda," to the other 
that of "Augro-Mainyus." Ahura-Mazda was the all- 
bountiful, all-wise, living being, or spirit, who stood at 
the head of all that was good, loving and beautiful. 
Augro-Mainyus was the dark and gloomy intelligence, 
who had, from the .first been Ahura-Mazda's enemy, 
and was bent on thwartiDg and vexing him; and with 
these fundamental notions agreed to all that the sacred 
books taught concerning either being. Ahura-Mazda, 
was declared to be the creator of life, the earth and 
the spiritual. He had made the celestial bodies, the 
earth, the water, the trees and all good creatures. He 
was good, holy and pure. He was the essence of good- 
ness and of truth, and from him came all good to man. 
Augro-Mainjus was the creator and the upholder of 
everything that was evil. He was opposed to Ahura- 
Mazda from the begiuning. He had been engaged in 
a perpetual warfare with him and whatever good thing 
Ahura-Mazda had created, Augro Mainyus had cor- 
rupted and ruined. Moral and physical evils were alike 
at his disposal, and he could blast the earth with bar- 
renness, or make it produce thorns, thistles and poison- 
ous plants. He was the author of the earthquake, the 
storm, the plague and the thunderbolt; he caused dis- 
ease and death; he was the creator of wild beasts, of 
serpents, of toads, of hornets and of mosquitos. He 
had invented and introduced into the world the sins of 
witchcraft, murder and unbelief. He excited wars and 
tumults, continually stirred up the bad against the good 
and labored by every possible expedient to make vice 
triumph over virtue. Ahura-Mazda could exercise no 
controi over him, the most that he could do was to keep 
a perpetual watch upon his rival, and seek to baffle anc| 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 9 

to defeat him; but iu this he was not always success- 
ful. Augro-Mainyus was frequently victorious. 

The belief iu Ahura-Mazda and in Augro Maiuyus is 
identical with the Christian doctrine of Jehovah and 
Satan. Jehovah placed in the Garden of Eden a per- 
fect man and a perfect woman and Satan corrupted 
them. The two great beings who thus divided between 
them the empire of the universe were not content to 
be solitary. Each had called into existence a number 
of inferior spirits who acknowledged their sovereignty 
fought on their side, and sought to execute their be- 
hests. At the head of the good angels, subject to 
Ahura-Mazda, stood a band of six angels. They were 
the chief assistants of the principle of good, both in 
counsel and in action. Augro-Mainyus also had a band 
of six evil angels. The leader of the angelic hosts of 
Ahura-Mazda was a glorious being called Serash, who 
stood in the religious system of the Parsees where 
Michael, the archangel, stands in the Christian. 

The Parsees, the followers of Zoroaster, believed that 
man was made and placed on the earth by Ahura- 
Mazda; therefore it was his duty to render to him im- 
plicit obedience, and to oppose to the utmost Augro- 
Mainyus, that is— Satan. Piety was to be shown by an 
acknowledgement of Ahura-Mazda as the one true God, 
also by a reverential regard for the lower angels, and 
by the frequent offering of prayers, of praises and of 
thanksgivings, the recitation of hymns, the occasional 
sacrifice of animals and the performance from time to 
time of a curious ceremony known as that of the homa. 
This consisted in the extraction of the jaice of the 
homa plant by the priests during the recitation of pray- 
ers. The liquid extracted was offered to the sacrificial 



10 THE VOICE OF REASON 

fire, a small portion of it was consumed by the officiat- 
ing ministers and the remainder thereof was distributed 
among the worshipers. In sacrifice the priests were 
the go-betweens. Animals were brought on the altar 
on which burned the sacred fire, kindled originally 
from heaven, and were there slun by a priest, who 
took off the flesh and threw it into the sacrificial fire, 
after which the victim was cooked and eaten at a sol- 
emn meal by the priests and the worshipers. 

The Carthagenians had two deities whom they wor- 
shiped. The first was Ooelestis, who was invoked in 
great calamities. The second deity worshiped and 
adored by the Carthagenians, and in whose honor sac- 
rifices were offered, was Saturn. History tells us that 
the kings of Syre, when in great dauger, used to sacri- 
fice their sons to appease the anger of the gods; and 
one of them, by this action, procured himself divioe 
honors, and was worshiped as a god under the name of 
Saturn. Private persons who wftre desirous of avert- 
ing any great calamity took the same method, and, in 
imitation of their kings, were so very superstitious that 
such as had no children purchased those of the poor in 
order that they might not be deprived of the merit of 
such sacrifice. Children were either burned in a fiery 
furnace, or enclosed in a flaming statue of the god Sat- 
urn. The cries of these unhappy victims were drowned 
by the uninterrupted noise of drums and of trumpets; 
mothers made it a merit and a part of their religion to 
view this barbarous spectacle with dry eyes, and with- 
out so much as a groan; and if a tear or a sigh stole 
from them the sacrifice was less acceptable to the deity, 
and all effect-* of it were entirely lost. The people were 
so imbued with a love for their god that mothers would 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 11 

endeavor with embraces and kisses to hush the cries of 
their children lest, had the victim been offered with an 
unbecoming grace and in their midst of tears, it should 
anger the ged. It is remarkable to what an excess the 
Carthagenians carried their enthusiasm, When Aga- 
thocles besieged Carthage, its inhabitants, seeing the 
extremity to which they were reduced, imputed all of 
their misfortunes to the just anger of Saturn, their god, 
because, instead of offering up children nobly born, 
who were usually sacrificed to him, he had been fraudu- 
lently put off with the children of slaves and of foreign- 
ers. To atone for this crime, two hundred children of 
the best families in Carthage were sacrificed to Saturn. 
Besides this great sacrifice, three hundred citizen* vol- 
untarily sacrificed themselves in order to appease the 
anger of the god Saturn. The way in which the sacri- 
fice was accomplished was by a brazen statue of the 
god Saturn, the hands of which were turned down- 
wards so that when a child was laid on them it dropped 
immediately into a hollow where there was a fiery fur- 
nace. 

We can hardly believe that mankind were capable of 
such madness and frenzy as to murder their children 
with their own hands and to throw them into a fiery 
furnace. Sentiments so unnatural and barbarous, and 
yet adopted by whole nations and even by the most 
civilized, as the Phoenicians, the Gauls, the Scythians, 
and even the Greeks and the Komans. This barbarous 
custom impresses the Christian with horror, but has 
not the Holy Inquisition sacrificed thousands of good 
and virtuous men to the Lord Jesus Christ? It seems 
to me that the sacrificing of little children was not half 
as cruel as when the Holy Inquisition sacrificed men of 



12 THE VOICE OF REASON 

intelligence, and when the only crime was lack of be- 
lief in some of the nonsense that the high priest of 
Eome promulgated. 

The ancient Greeks had many gods, but 1 shall speak 
of only the two principal ones, Zeus and Apollo, his 
son. Zeus occupies a most unique position. He stands 
at the head of all the gods; Zeus is the beginning, he 
is all and in all. He is the Lord of the upper regions. 
He gathered the clouds about him, shook the air with 
his thunder and wielded the lightning as the instrument 
of his wrath. All the angels are assembled around 
Zeus. He is their king. He assigns their several prov- 
inces and controls their authority. Their combined 
effort cannot give the slightest shock to bis power, nor 
retard the execution of his will. With a tremendous 
nod he confirms his decrees. They can be neitheir re- 
voked nor frustrated; as his might is irresistible so is 
his wisdom unsearchable. He holds the balance in 
which are poised the destinies of nations and of men. 
The eternal order of things, the ground of the immuta- 
ble succession of events are his, and therefore he him- 
self submits to it. Human laws derive their sanction 
from his ordinance. Earthly kings receive their scep- 
tre from his hands. He is the guardian of social rights. 
He watches over the fulfillment of contracts, the observ- 
ance of oaths, and punishes treachery, arrogance and 
cruelty. The stranger and the suppliant are under his 
protection. He is the most glorious being. Zeus stood 
in the estimation of the ancient Greeks the same as 
Jehovah stands fn the estimation of the Jews and the 
Christians. They present Zeus to us as omnipotent, 
©mniscient and beneficent, worthy of perpetual praise. 
They address him as our father, our help and defence, 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 13 

our support and stay. They set him forth as wonder- 
ful and mighty, a being beyond our power to compre- 
hend, whom we must be content to reverence and to 
admire. They recognize him as having hung the stars 
in the blue vault of heaven, and having set them there 
for signs, for seasons, for days and for years; they call 
him the first, the last, the Alpha and. the Omega of 
being. To prove that this was their conception of Zeus, 
I will quote a passage from their sacred literature: 

"With Zeus begin we, let no mortal voice leave Zeus 
uupraised. Zeus fills the haunts of men, the streets, 
the harbors, everywhere. We live in Zeus, we are his 
offspring. Friendly to men, he gives prognostics, sets 
men to their toil by the need of daily bread, tells when 
the land must be upturned, what time to plant the olive 
or the vine, what time to fling on earth the golden 
grain; for he it was who scattered o'er the sky the 
shining stars, and fixed them where they are, provided 
constellations through the year to mark the seasons in 
their changeless course. Wherefore, men, worship 
him, the first, the last, their father, wonderful, their 
help and shield." 

Apollo is the son of Zeus. He works the will of his 
father. He is never offended without cause, never 
moved by caprice. He dispenses justice and purifies 
with wholesome fear the souls of men. He is the par- 
taker of all of the counsels of his father, and is per- 
mitted to use his discretion in communicating them to 
men on earth. He delivers his oracular responses from 
the various spots which he has chosen as his special 
abodes. He seldom sends away a votary unsatisfied. 
The answer which he <?ives determines the decisions of 



14 THE VOICE OF REASON 

statesmen. War and peace, treaties and alliances, are 
made and unmade, as the delphic and other oracles are 
inspired by his advice. 

Apollo was always on the side of right, always true 
to Zeus and not much interior to him in power. This 
represents a faithful likeness between Apollo the son 
of Zeus and Jesus Christ the son of Jehovah. The 
Romans like the Greeks had many gods, too numerous 
for me to mention, therefore I will speak of their prin- 
cipal one only. Jupiter was the god of all creation. 
He was the god of the air, the sky, the firmament. He 
it was who sent down lightning from above. He gave 
rain, directed the flight of birds aud impregnated the 
atmosphere with fevers and pestilence. He was the 
acknowledged head of the Roman Pantheon. He had a 
general superintendence over human affairs. He was 
viewed as punishing impiety in g'eneral and perjury in 
particular. He knew the future and could reveal it. 
He guarded the rights of property and was viewed as 
the guardian deity of the Roman people and State. He 
was the highest conception of deity which was ever 
reached by the ancient Romans. 

The worship of most of the gods was provided by the 
State, which established paid priesthoods, so as to se- 
cure the continual rendering of the honors due to each 
god. The highest order of priests bore the name of 
Flaminos. They were the kindlers of the sacred fire. 
There was also a class of priests called Salii, or dancing 
priests. They were something like the Salvation Army 
of our time, which makes so much noise. These priests 
were attached to the temple of Mars, upon the Palatine 
Hill. They had charge of the sacred shields, one of 
which was believed to have fallen from heaven and to 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOED. 15 

be fataJly connected with the safety of the Roman 
State. In the great festival of Mars, with which the 
year opened, they marched in procession through the 
city, bearing the sacred shields on their shoulders, 
striking them with a rod from time to time, dancing and 
singing. 

The pontifices were four priests. They had the su- 
perintendence of religion. They exercised control over 
all of the other priests. They understood all of the 
mysteries and were deeply versed in astronomy. They 
settled the calendar, determining when each festival 
was 10 be held; and with them it lay to determine what 
steps should be taken to appease the gods in their an- 
ger. They furnished the proper formula on all great 
religious occasions. There was no appeal from their 
decisions, and they had the power to enforce obedience 
by the infliction of finets and even of death. Ts it any 
wonder that the Roman Catholic Church held such a 
tremendous sway over so many millions of people when 
the Roman people embraced Christianity? The pontiflc 
priests placed themselves ?t the head of the Church, 
and the Pontiff of Rome is still trying to exercise the 
same power. But we cannot blame him, for as long as 
he can find enough dupes to believe in him, so long will 
he cling to his supposed divine right to govern the re- 
ligious opinion of man. The gods whom the people of 
the ancient world revered, adored and worshiped, and 
to whom they looked for help and consolation, have all 
taken a back seat and passed into oblivion. It is very 
sad indeed that the gods should be subject to the law 
of fashion and be obliged to go out of style. But there 
is one consolation and that is, Jehovah, the omnipotent 
and the omniscient, still reigns supreme. If the Bible 



16 THE VOICE OF REASON 

narrative concerning Jehovah be true, then he is not 
omniscient. 

Our religious teachers tell us that Jehovah knows the 
future and even knows our thoughts; but the Bible tells 
a different story. If Jehovah knew the future how is 
it that he did not know that Adam's offspring would 
turn out bad? He did not know that Cain would kill 
his brother Abel. It also seems that Jehovah was re- 
sponsible for this murder. The Bible tells us that in 
the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of 
the first fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord, 
and Abel also brought of the firstlings of his flock and 
of the fat thereof, and the Lord had respect unto Abel 
and his offering, but unto Cain and to his offering he 
had not respect; and Cain was very wroth and his coun- 
tenance fell. Jehovah saw the mischief which he had 
made by his partiality and he said unto Cain: ^Why art 
thou wroth, and why is thy countenance fallen?" But 
Cain was a gentleman, and thinking that discretion was 
the better part of valor he did not answer him. Cain 
had good cause to be angry. He brought his fruit- 
offering to the Lord because he thought that it would 
please him; but the Lord, instead of looking kindly on 
Cain, looked contemptuously on him. If Jehovah had a 
preference for mutton he should not have shown it, 
but, like a gentleman of good manners, accepted both 
offeriugs gracefully and have thereby averted this mur- 
der. The Bible tells us that Jehovah saw.that the wick- 
edness of man was great, and that it repented him that 
he made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his 
heart. Why did he repent if he knew how his work was 
going to turn out? Is not this conclusive evidence that 
he did not know? 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 17 

When Jehovah discovered the mistake which he had 
made in creating man, that man had turned out so dif- 
ferently from what he expected, it made him mad clear 
through and he resolved to destroy him; but luckily he 
found a gentleman, Noah by name, who found favor in 
his eyes, to whom he divulged his secret; and Jehovah 
said unto Noah: "The end of all flesh has come before 
me, for the earth is filled with violence, and behold 1 
will destroy them with the earth." It seems that Je- 
hovah told a falsehood to Noah in regard to the de- 
struction of the earth as it was not destroyed at the 
time of the supposed flood. Jehovah had a motive in 
view when he told Noah to build the Ark. He was 
afraid that he would not be able to re-create what he had 
made before, so he told Noah to build an ark of gopher 
wood, and told him to take into it two of every kind of 
animals, both male and female, and when everything 
was ready Jehovah said to Noah: "Come thou and all 
of thy house into the ark; for in seven days I will cause 
it to rain upon the earth for forty days and forty nights; 
and every living substance that I have made will I de- 
stroy from the face of the earth." 

Jehovah saw that his creation of man was a mistake. 
Adam and his offspring turned out bad, yet God feared 
to try his hand at a new creation in case it should turn 
out worse, and thinking that Noah, being a man of ex- 
perience, would do better than Adam had done, he 
saved him so as to begin the race again; but Jehovah 
was doomed to disappointment, for when Noah got on 
dry land again, he planted a vineyard and drank of the 
wine and became so beastly drunk that he lay in his 
tent naked; and Ham, one of his sons, saw the naked- 
ness of his father, and toid his brothers of their father's 



18 THE VOICE OF REASON 

condition. How great must have been Jehovah's dis- 
appointment when, after going to so much trouble to 
purify the world, the man whom he thought to be the 
essence of purity turned out to be a drunkard. If 
Jehovah were omniscient, would he have made so 
many blunders? The Bible says that Jehovah tempted 
Abraham and told him to take his son, his only son 
Isaac, whom he loved, into the land of Moriah and to 
offer him as a burnt offering And Abraham rose up 
early in the morning, and took his fcon Isaac to the 
place of which Jehovah had told him, and he built an 
altar there and laid upon it the wood, bound Isaac, his 
son, and laid him upon the wood; and Abraham 
stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his 
son; and Jehovah said unto Abraham, "Lay not thy 
hand on the lad, neither do thou anything unto him; 
for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou 
has not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me." 

Do we need any stronger evidence than this that 
Jehovah knew not the future, neither did he know 
man's thoughts? If he did, he would have known 
beforehand that Abraham would obey him. 

Our religious teachers tell us that Jehovah is a just 
God, that he rewards the good and punishes the wicked; 
and the reason why Jehovah selected Abraham, Isaac 
and Jacob for his chosen ones, and showered divine 
blessings upon them, is because they were good men. 
The question is, what constitutes a good man? To my 
way of thinking, a good man must be possessed of a 
good character; and the most essential parts thereof 
are honesty and integrity. Therefore, it will be well 
to examine the characters of Jehovah's chosen ones 
and to see if they deserved his favor. The Bible tells 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 1U 

us that there was a famine in the land, that Abram 
went down into Egypt, and that he said unto Sarah, his 
wife, "Behold, now I know that thou art fair to look 
upon, therefore it will come to pass, when the Egyp- 
tians shall see thee, that they shall say: 'This is his 
wife,' and they will slay me; but they will save thee 
alive. Say, I pray thee, that thou art my sister, that it 
may be well- with me for thy sake." What would we 
think of a man in our time who would make such a 
bargain as this was with his wife? Would we not con- 
sider him a coward and a villain? If Abram had pos- 
sessed a spark of manhood, he would never have made 
such an infamous proposition. And what was the 
result? When Pharaoh saw Abram's wife, he had her 
brought to him, and treated Abram well for her sake, 
and gave to him sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and 
man-servants and maid-servants, and she-asses and 
camels; but Abram lost his wife. At this crisis Je- 
hovah came to Abram's assistance and plagued Pharaoh 
and his house with great plagues because of Sarah, 
Abram's wife; and Pharaoh called Abram to him and 
said, -'What is this that thou hast done unto me? Why 
didst thou not tell me that she is thy wife? Why didst 
thou say that she is thy sister, so that I might have 
taken her to me to wife? Now, therefore, behold thy 
wife; take her and go thy way." 

I leave it to any intelligent person to decide whether 
Abram or Pharaoh was right. It seems to me that 
Pharaoh had a legal right to take Sarah, the supposed 
sister of Abram, for a wife, and Abram deserved the 
severest censure for his duplicity. In this case we see 
the righteous punished and the unrighteous allowed to 
go scot free. The trick which Abram played upon 



20 THE YOICE OF TtEASON 

Pharaoh made him immensely rich, and he cast his 
eyes for another victim; but in the meantine he 
changed his name from Abram to Abraham, because 
he was afraid that his dishonorable trick might be dis- 
cerned; so, if asked about it, he could say that it was 
Abram who played the trick on Pharaoh, and not him- 
self. He could then say that his name was Abraham, 
and that he was an honest man. 

When Abraham left Egypt, he journeyed towards 
the southern country and sojourned in Gerar, and we 
find him playing the same trick on Abimelech, King of 
Gerar. Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "she is my 
sister," and Abinelech sent after and took Sarah. 
But Abraham had a confederate who helped him out of 
all his difficulties. All that Abraham had to do was to 
find a rich king and to expose his wife to view and to 
pass her off as his sister, and Jehovah did the rest. This 
time Jehovah came to Abimelech in a dream and said 
to him, "Behold, thou art but a dead man for the woman 
which thou hast taken, for she is a man's wife. This 
frightened Abimelech, and he said, "Lord, wilt thou 
also slay a righteous nation? Said he not unto me, 
•She is my sister,' and she, even she herself, said, 'He 
is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and the 
innocence of my hands have I done this." And Jeho- 
vah said unto him in a dream, "Yes, I know that thou 
didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also with- 
held thee from sinning against me. Now, therefore, 
restore to the man his wife, for he is a prophet, and he 
will pray for thee and thou shalt live; and if thou 
restorest her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die; 
thou and all who are thine." This shows the justice 
of Jehovah. Instead of punishing the scoundrel who 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 21 

entrapped an innocent man, he rewards the scoundrel 
and threatens the innocent one with death. The plague 
with which Jehovah plagued Abimelech is too obscene 
for us to mention here*; therefore I will refer you to 
Genesis xx. 17. Abraham realized a handsome profit 
by his transaction with Abimelech. Abimelech was so 
thoroughly frightened that he gave him sheep, oxen, 
men-servants, women-servants, and a thousand pieces 
of silver. 

Isaac's career was not an eventful one. The only 
thing he tried to do was to pas3 off his wife as his sis- 
ter; but in this he was not successful. Isaac dwelt in 
Gerar; and the men of that place asked him about his 
wife, and he said that she was his sister. And it came 
to pass, when he had been there a long time, that 
Abimelech called Isaac, and said, "Behold, of a surety 
she is thy wife, and how saidstthou she is thy sister?" 
And Isaac said, "Because 1 said lest I die for her." 
And Abimelech said, "What is this that thou hast dene 
unto us? One of the people might lightly have lain 
with thy wife, and thou shouldst have brought guilti- 
ness upon us." And Abimelech charged all of his 
people, saying, "He who touches this man or his wife 
shall surely be put to death." It might be said that 
the reason why Abimelech issued this order to his 
people was because of his former experience with 
Abraham, which cost him very dearly; and that made 
him more cautious. But, nevertheless, it shows great 
nobility of character in Abimelech. Instead of driving 
Isaac out of the country and punishing him for his 
duplicity, he allowed him to stay, and protected him 
from danger. 

Jehovah blessed Isaac with two sons, Esau and 



22 THE VOICE OF REASON 

Jacob. Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the 
field, and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. 
Isaac loved Esau because he did eat of his venison, but 
Rebekah loved Jacob. Rebekah bad good reason for 
her preference, because Jacob's character was the very 
essence cf goodness. The Bible tells us that Jacob 
sold pottage, and that Esau came from the field and 
was faint. Esau said to Jacob, "Eeed me, I pray thee, 
with that same red pottage, for I am faint." And 
Jacob said, "Sell me Uiis day thy birthright" And 
Esau said, "Behold, I am at the point of death, and 
what profit shall this birthright be to me?" And Jacob 
said, "Swear to me this day," and he swore unto him; 
and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob 
gave to E«au bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did 
eat and drink, and rose up and went his way. Thus 
Esau despised his birthright. 

The Bible says that Esau despised his birthright; but 
is not this a false statement? Was not Esau at the 
mercy of Jacob? Did he not compel him to sell his 
birthright? When Esau asked, "What profit shall this 
Birthright be to me if I should starve to death?" was 
he not right in asking the question? It was just as rea- 
sonable as it would be for me to ask, "What good is the 
world to a man when his wife is a widow? and what 
would not a starving man give lor a piece of bread?" 
Can we find a nobler example of brotherly-love than 
that displayed by Jacob? He should be held up in 
every pulpit as a pattern for our guidance. But 
Jehovah is a just God. Therefore, he loved Jacob and 
despised Esau. 

Jacob, besides loving his brother with so much affec- 
tion, had other noble qualities. The Bible tells us 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 23 

that it came to pass that, when Isaac was old and his 
eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau, 
his eldest son, and he said unto him, "iiy son,' 1 and 
Esau replied, "Behold, here am I" And Isaac said 5 
"Behoid now that I am old, I know not the day of my 
death. Now, therefore, take, I pray thee, the weapons 
and go out to the field and take some venison and make 
for me savory meat, such as I love, and bring it to me 
that I may eat, that my soul may bless thee before I 
die." Rebekah overheard all this, and told it to Jacob ; 
and she also told him to go now to the flock and to fetch 
from thence two good kids of the goats, and she would 
make savory meat for his father, such as he loveth ; 
and he should bring it to his father that he might eat. 
and that he might bless him before his death. This 
plan was concocted for the purpose of deceiving Isaac, 
bub there was one obstacle in the way of making this 
scheme a success. The trouble was that Esau was a 
hairy man, and that Jacob was a smooth one — but 
Jacob was no fool. So he said to his mother, "Perad* 
venture my father will feel of me, and I shall seem to 
be a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon myself 
and not a blessing " But Rebekah was equal to the 
occasion. So she took goodly raiment of her oldest 
son Esau, which was with her in the house, and put it 
upon Jacob, her younger son; and he put skins of the 
kids of goats upon his hands and upon the smooth of 
his neck. And Rebekah gave the savory meat and the 
bread which she had prepared into the hands of Jacob; 
and he came to his father, and said: "Here am I." 
And Isaac said, "Who art thou, my son?" And Jacob 
said unto his father, "I am Esau thy firstborn, I have 
done according as thou bidst me. Arise, I pray thee, 



24 THE VOICE OF REASON 

sit and eat of my venison that thy soul may bless me." 
And Isaac said unto his son, "How is it that thou hast 
found it so quickly, my son?" And he said, "Because 
the Lord thy God brought it to me." 

Jehovah, who is the essence of truth, allowed this 
falsehood to be uttered in his name and passed it un- 
rebuked. That Jehovah allows so many liars to exist 
in our day is not to be wondered at because he has re- 
moved from this earth to heaven, and he probably 
does not know that there are so many liars on this 
earth; but to let one go unpunished with whom he was 
in direct communication admits of no excuse. But 
Isaac was suspicious, and he said unto Jacob, "Come 
near, I pray thee, that I may feel of thee, my son, 
whether thou be my very son Esau or not." And 
Jacob came near unto Isaac his father; and he felt of 
him, and said, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the 
hands are the hands of Esau." And he discovered him 
not, because his hands were as hairy as were his brother 
Esau's. So he blessed him, and asked, "Art thou my 
very son Esau?" And he said, «I am." And it came 
to pass that as soon as Isaac had made an end of bless- 
ing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the 
presence of Isaac, his father, Esau, his brother, came 
in from his hunting, and he also had made savory meat 
and brought it unto his father, and said unto him r 
"Let my father arise and eat of his son's venison that 
thy soul may bless me." And Isaac, his father, said 
unto him, "Who art thou?" And he said, "I am thy 
son, thy firstborn, Esau." And Isaac trembled ex- 
ceedingly, and said, "Where is he who has taken veni- 
son and brought it to me? I have eaten of all before 
thou comest, and have blessed him." And when Esau 



AND TRUTH? UL ECHOES. 25 

heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and 
exceeding bitter cry, and said unto him, "Bless me, 
even me also, oh, father." And he said, "Thy brother 
came with subtlety and has taken away thy blessing." 
And Esau said, "Is he not rightly named Jacob? For 
he hath supplanted me these two times. He took away 
my birthright; and, behold, now he has taken away my 
blessing also." 

Can we find a parallel of anything so mean, so con« 
temptible and so base a trick as the noble Jacob prac? 
ticed upon his brother Esau? If a stranger had corn? 
mitted such an act, he would deserve our contempt and 
our severest condemnation. And what shall we say of 
an own brother who is capable of such rascality? But 
Jehovah is a just God, and we have no right to criticise 
the character of his chosen ones. If I should ask you 
what would you do to a man who had treated you in 
the way in which Jacob treated his brother Esau, you 
would no doubt say that you would have your revenge 
if you had a chance. But Esau, whom Jehovah dis- 
carded, had an opportunity to revenge himself, but did 
he embrace it? When Jacob parted from Laban he 
was obliged to pass through his brother's country, and 
he was afraid that his brother Esau would kill him, 
So he sent messengers to his brother, and commanded 
them, saying: "Thus shall ye speak unto my lorc| 
Esau: Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned, 
with Laban and stayed there until now; and I have., 
sent them to tell my lord that I may find grace in thy 
sight." And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying-. 
"We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to 
meet thee and four hundred men with him." A-nc^ 
Jacob was greatly distressed, but he was as cunning, 



26 THE VOICE OF REASON 

now as ever. So he divided the people who were with 
him, and the flocks, the herds and the camels into two 
bands, and said: "If Esau should come to the one 
company, and should smite it, then the other which is 
left shall escape." At last Jacob lifted up his eyes and 
looked; and behold, Esau came; and with him were 
four hundred men. And he divided the children be- 
tween Leah, Eachel aod the two handmaids; and he 
put the handmaids and their children foremost, and 
Leah and her children after and Rachel and Joseph 
hindermost. 

Jacob showed great craftiness in this arrangement. 
The reason why he put Rachel hindermost was because 
he loved her best; and if Esau should smite the fore- 
most, be would have a chance to escape with those 
whom he loved best. At last the critical time came, 
and Jacob passed over them, and bowed himself to the 
ground seven times until he came near to his brother. 
And Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, and fell on 
his neck and kissed him. And Esausaid, "What mean- 
est thou by all this drove which I met? And Jacob 
said, "These are a presentto thee, so that I may find 
grace in thy sight." And.Esau said, "I have enough, 
my brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself." 

Who would not admire such a noble character as is 
displayed by Esau? A heart so generous is worthy of 
our highest commendation. The Nazarene, who is 
supposed to have been the most noble character, did 
not surpass Esau in nobleness. Yet Jehovah is a just 
God. He blessed Jacob and cursed Esau. 

Jacob parted from his brother Esau, and settled in 
the land of Canaan, and Dinah, the daughter of Leah, 
went out to see the daughters of the land; and when 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 27 

Shechem, the son of Hanior, the prince of the country, 
saw her he fell in love with her; and his soul cla\e 
unto Dinah,, the daughter of Jacob. He loved the 
damsel, and spoke kindly unto her; and Shechem spake 
unto his father, Hamor, saying, 'Get me this damsel 
to wife." And Hamor, the father of Shechem, went 
in unto Jacob to commune with him. And Hamor 
communed with the sons of Jacob also, saying: "The 
soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter. I 
pray you give her to him to wife, and make ye mar- 
riages with us, and give your daughters unto us and 
take our daughters unto you, and ye shall dwell with 
us; and the land shall be before you. Dwell and trade 
ye therein, and your possessions therein." And She- 
chem said unto her father and unto her brethren, "Let 
me find grace in your eyes; and what ye shall say unto 
me I will give. Ask me ever so much dowry and gift, 
and I will give according as ye shall say unto me; but 
give the damsel to wife unto me." 

It seerns to me that this was an honorable proposi- 
tion, but the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and 
Hamor, his father, deceitfully, aud said unto them, 
"We cannot do this thing to give our sister to one who 
is not circumcised, for that would be a reproach unto 
us; but in this we will consent unto you, if ye will be 
as we are, that every male of you shall be circumcised. 
Then we will give our daughters unto you, and we will 
take your daughters to ourselves, and we will become 
one people; but if you will not harken unto us aod be 
circumcised, then we will take our daughters and be 
gone." 

And their words pleased Hamor and Shechem; and 
the young man deferred not to do the thing because he 



28 THE VOICE OF REASON 

had delight in Jacob's daughter, and Hamor and She- 
chem, his son, came into the gate of their city, saying,, 
"These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them- 
dwell in the land and trade therein, for the land is large 
enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us 
for wives, and let us give to them our daughters; only 
therein will the men consent unto us to dwell with us 
abd to be one peOple, if every male among us- be cir- 
cumcised as they are." And the men harkened unto 
Hamor and unto Shechem; and every male was cir- 
cumcised. 

And it came to pass on the third day, when they 
were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and* 
Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and 
came upon the city boldly, and slew all of the males. 
They also slew Hamor and Shechem with the edge of 
the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's hou.se, and 
went out into the field. The Bible says furthermore 
that the sons of Jacob came to the slain, and spoiled the 
city; and they took the sheep, the oxen and the asses, 
and that which was in the field, and all of the wealth; 
and the little ones and the wives they took captive, 
and spoiled even that which was in the house. 

This atrocious and ferocious crime should be looted 
upon with abhorrence; yet our religious people ap- 
prove of it because Jehovah's chosen ones were the 
criminals. And Jacob said to his sons, u Ye have 
troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants- 
of the land among the Canaanites, and being few in- 
number, they shall gather themselves against me and 
slay me, and I and my house shall be destroyed." But 
Jehovah, who loves to reward good deeds, did not for- 
sake Jacob. He told him not to fear y to leave this part 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 20 

•of the country, to go to Bethel, to change his name 
from Jacob to Israel, because Jehovah thought that 
should the Canaanites pursue Jacob and overtake him, 
and accuse him of this diabolical crime, he could deny 
it, and say that it was Jacob's children who committed 
it, and also say, "My name is Israel; and we had noth- 
ing to do with it." 

When Jacob got to Bethel, and Jehovah saw that all 
was well, he appeared unto Jacob, and said unto him: 
"1 am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a 
nation and a company of nations shall Cume out of thy 
loins." Is not Jehovah a just God? He did not re- 
buke Jacob for the atrocious crime which his sons com- 
mitted, but blessed him for it. 

Judah, from whom the Savior of the world evolved, 
was a disgusting sensualist. His deeds are too obscene 
to relate; but a lull account of them will be found in 
the Book of Genesis, 38. 

We need not have a post-mortem examination in 
order to discover what kind of a heart Jehovah had. 
All that we have to do is to examine the character of 
David, because he was a man after Jehovah's own 
heart. David was a lover of the beautiful. One day 
while he was walking upon the terrace of his palace, 
which overlooked the gardens of the villa of Uriah, his 
eyes fell upon the person of the wife of Uriah, as she 
was leaving her bath in the seclusion of her garden, 
attended by two of her maids. David had long envied' 
his great captain the possession of his beautiful wife, 
and often distinguished her with a place of honor when 
he met her among the ladies of the court. He was 
upon the instant seized with a desire to make this 
ovely woman his own. In those times for a king to 



30 THE VOICE OF KEASON 

wish was to will, and to will was to obtain. The virtu- 
ous wife of the noble soldier, who was beyond Jordan 
fighting the battles of his king, leaving his honor in 
his lord's keeping, was despised and dishonored by that 
lord. 

The guilty secret was kept from every eye; but it 
could not much longer be concealed. David now be- 
gan to reap the fruits of his iniquity by torture of mind 
in devising how to hide from the world his guilt and 
her shame; for he was well aware that when the chief 
priest should know of it he would put her to death in 
compliance with the letter of the law, which ordained 
stoning to death as the punishment for a wife who dis- 
honored her husband. David had a profound attach- 
ment for Uriah's wife and he did not wish to expose 
her to so cruel a fate, and there was but one way which 
suggested itself to his mind to protect her from the law 
which was to cover his Crime which was yet their own 
secret, but which would be open to all men. He there- 
fore sent a swift messenger to Joab, his general, saying: 
"Send to me at Jerusalem, as soon as this comes into 
thy hands, my faithful servant Uriah; for I have need 
for him." When Joab read the letter he showed it to 
Uriah, who was not pleased to be ordered home on the 
eve of an assault; yet he made no delay, but on the 
evening of the second day presented himself before 
David. Then David said to him: "I need thee here as 
before in my palace. I would not have sent thee to the 
wars had I known that I should have been without thy 
service so long as captain of my guard. Go down to 
thy house and bathe after thy journey, and I will send 
thee meat and wine from my own table, and in the 
morning come to me." 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 31 

Uriah left David's presence, but instead of going to 
his house he met several of his military friends and re- 
freshed himself in the guard-room with them. He was 
so occupied in giving them an accouDt of the incidents 
of war that he found it was quite late when he rose to 
leave, aud he thought that he would not disturb his house 
that night, so he slept in the guard room. On the next 
morning David learned that his victim did not go to his 
home but slept in the guard-room, so he sent for him 
and inquired: "Why didst thou not go down into thy 
house and gladden thy wife with thy safety and pres- 
ence?" Uriah answered and said: "If my lord, the 
king, sent for me only to learn how Joab did, how the 
army fared and how the war prospered, let it please my 
lord, the king, to send me back again, for presently we 
are to have a great battle and I would not be absent." 
David answered and said: "SLay here to-day, and to- 
morrow I will let thee depart." 

The same evening David entertained his lords and 
his officers, and also Uriah, at his table, and he pressed 
him with goblets of wine. The brave soldier could not 
refuse the frequent pledges of the king, and when he 
was under the influence of wine David ordered his 
servants to take him to his home and to leave him there. 
But when Uriah found himself in the courtyard, and 
had breathed the fresh air, he angrily disengaged him- 
self from the men. He then went to the guard- house 
and slept there all night. The reason why he did not 
go to see his wife was that some one had told him what 
David had done while he was absent from home. 

David was again foiled in his scheme to cover up his 
crime and he became desperate, as is always the case 
when a man starts out on a criminal career, for one act 



82 THE VOICE OF REASON 

Of guilt begets many others and deprives men of their 
Understanding and their ordinary judgment. It alters 
their very natures, blinds their eyes to inevitable con- 
Sequences, and debases and degrades the reason. Da- 
vid not being satisfied with seducing Uriah's wife also 
planned to kill him. So he called the unsuspecting 
Uriah before him and said: "Deliver this letter to 
Joab, my general, and thou mayest remain in the camp 
Until the war is ended." Uriah departed from David 
and returned to the field of batile and gave David's let- 
ter to Joab. 

When Joab received the letter he opened it and read 
as follows: "Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest 
battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten." 
Joab was obliged to obey the king, therefore he placed 
Uriah at a point where he knew would be the hottest 
conflict, and in order that he might certainly be slain 
he gave orders to the soldiers, who were purposely se- 
lected, few in number, to retreat if the assailants came 
out of their gates, when to Uriah he said: "Let no man 
retreat; and if the Ammonites open their gates, enter 
at the head of your men and take the citadel." When 
the Ammonites saw that only a few soldiers were as- 
saulting the gate they rushed forth to attack them, 
while others shot from the walls, killing several of Da- 
vid's, men; the rest fled and left the brave Uriah alone. 
In a moment he was surrounded by his foes, whom he 
fought long and desperately, slaying many and to the 
last refusing to yield. Joab saw how valiantly he sold 
his life and said: "But for the command of the king I 
Would sound the retreat and would yet bring his life 
away. It is a pity to see so brave a soldier slaughtered 
like a lion at bay." So died David's brave captain 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 33 

slain by treachery and guilt. Is there anything more 
atrocious than this flagrant murder? Yet David was a 
man after Jehovah's heart, and this is a fair imitation 
of it. 

The crimes which Jehovah instigated are too horrible 
to relate, but if you wish a full account of Jehovah's 
atrocities you will find them in the Holy Bible. Hu- 
manity, blinded by traditions, by legends and by dog- 
mas which a child's logic can scatter to the winds, has 
accepted a God of rage and of terror. If this God ex- 
ists, let humanity reject and deny him. Let it leave 
him alone in the mystery which obscures him. Let it 
march forward to its freedom and its rights without 
him; or if in its weakness it must have a God to amuse 
itself with, let it invent one who shall be intelligible 
and who will make common cause with it against wrong 
and ignorance. What aid, what succor, what consola- 
tion has man received from this God, who for ages has 
looked on passively at the crimes and the sorrows of 
his creatures? Superstition, to calm its fears, capri- 
ciously forges gods which it makes not only the friends, 
but the protectors and the models of crimes. 

Jesus, like Apollo, is a God of a more mild disposi- 
tion than is Jehovah; but is Jesus a God? If so, let 
the New Testament prove it. I have studied that book 
very diligently, and I fail to find a single passage there- 
in where Jesus claims to be a God. Theologians hold 
that Jesus said: "I am in the father, and the father is 
in me, and the father and I are ooe." That, they say, 
•signifies that he was God. The theologians misunder- 
stand him. Jesus had a higher conception of God than 
they had. A personal God is a contradiction in terms. 
If God is a person how can he be omnipresent? The 



34 THE VOICE OF REASON 

most reasonable conception is, that all is God, and if so.. 
then God is all and in all. The tree is as much a part 
of God as Jesus was, and we are all gods. If Jesus 
were God, how is it that he said: "My God, my God, why 
hast thou forsaken me?" This is conclusive proof that 
he did not claim to be God. It also shows that Jesus 
thought that God would save him; but when the end 
came and God did not appear to him, he lost all faith in 
him and said: "My God, my God, why hast thou for- 
saken me?" Jesus was not the only one who thought 
that he was the Messiah. There were many like him 
who suffered death and God did not come to their as- 
sistance. 

They tell us that Jesus rose from'the dead. What 
proof have they that it was so? The only proof which 
they have is that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John say 
so. Xow we will see if these witnesses are reliable. 

Matthew says that Mary Magdalene and the other 
Mary came to see the sepulchre, and behold, there was 
a great earthquake; and the angel of the Lord de- 
scended from heaven, and came and rolled back the 
stone from the door and sat upon it. His countenance 
was like lightning and his raiment was white as snow: 
and for fear of him the keepers did shake and became 
as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto 
the women, "Fear not ye; for I know that ye seek 
Jesus which was crucified. He is not here; for he has 
risen;" and he said, "Come and see the place where 
the Lord lay." 

Mark says that Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother 
of James and Salome had brought sweet spices that 
they might come and anoint him; and they said among 
themselves, " Who shall roll us away the stone from the 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 35 

door of the sepulchre?" And when they looked they 
saw that the stone was rolled away; and, entering into 
the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the 
right side clothed ia a long garment, and they were 
affrighted. And he said, "Ye seek Jesus of Xazareth, 
which was crucified. He is risen. He is not here. 
Behold the place where they laid him." John says 
that Mary Magdalene came early, when it was yet 
dark, to the sepulchre, and saw the stone taken away 
from it. Then she ran and came to Simon Peter and 
to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said unto 
them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the 
sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid 
him." John tells us that Mary Magdalene knew not 
where they had laid the body of Jesus. Matthew tells 
us that an an*el of the Lord told Mary that Jesus had 
risen; and Luke says that they entered and found not 
the Lord Jesus. "And it came to pass as they were 
much perplexed thereabouts, behold two men stood by 
them in shining armaments; and as they were afraid. 
and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto 
them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He 
is not dead, but has risen." And they returned from 
the sepulchre and told these things unto the eleven, 
and to all '.he rest. Luke also sa\s that it was Mary 
Magdalene and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, 
and other women who were with them which told these 
things unto the Apostles. 

On this flimsy structure stands Christianity. What 
faith can we have in people whose testimony is full of 
contradictions? Would not such people, in a court of 
law, be convicted of perjury, and their testimony set 
aside as false? If Jesus ro3e from the dead and men 



36 THE VOICE OF REASON 

had no more power over him, why did he not exhibit 
himself in the city of Jerusalem? Had he done so 
there would have been no trouble, and the Jews would 
surely have accepted him as the Messiah. But to take 
the evidence of these witnesses, whose statements are 
full of contradictions, justifies us in denouncing this 
story as false. Some people might ask, "If Christian- 
ity is a false religion, how is it that it has so many fol- 
lowers?" My answer to that question is, tha!; the 
bigger the nonsense is, the more followers it has. 

Peter is a most noble example of true friendship. 
Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, why cannot I follow thee? 
I will lay down my life for thy sake"; and he kept his 
word. When Jesus got into trouble, did Peter stand by 
him as a true friend should do? No. When accused 
of being a follower of Jesus he denied that he ever 
saw him, and cursed and swore, saying, "I know not 
this man of whom ye speak." Can we find a truer 
friend than Peter showed himself to be? But Jesus 
had his revenge on Peter for his perfidy, for when he 
gave to him the keys of heaven, he sent him on a wild- 
goose chase; and poor Peter, with the kejs in his hand, 
is still hunting for heaven. 

The question still is, " What is God?" To be candid 
and truthful, we must say that we know not. I have 
examined all religions, and find that they are the out- 
growth of human thought. I find that they are based 
upon ignorance and superstition. Man, in his en- 
deavor to solve the unsolvable and to fathom the in- 
scrutable, allowed his imagination to take leave of his 
senses. Metaphysicians are as deeply in the mud as . 
theologians are in the mire They have strained their 
powers of reason and of imagination concerning God: 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 37 

and yet they have not brought one hidden truth to 
light. They have perplexed and bewildered the mind 
by contradictory theories. They have exhausted vhe 
charms of eloquence and enervated the force of argu- 
ment in establishing favorite 3j stems; and after a great 
deal of reasoning on this question they have left it in 
obscurity, uncertainty and suspense. 

Into whatever country we cast our eyes, we find 
priests, altars, sacrifices, festivals, religious ceremonies, 
temples or places consecrated to some god. In every 
people we discover a reverence and an awe of the god 
whom they worship, homage and honor paid to him 
and an open profession of an entire dependence upon 
him in all of their undertakings aud necessities, in all 
of their adversities and dangers, incapable of them- 
selves to penetrate futurity and to ascertain events in 
their own favor. We find them intent upon consulting 
the divinity by oracles and by other methods of a like 
nature, and to merit his protection by prayers, vows 
and offerings. Divinity is still invoked. No war is 
declared, no battle is fought, no enterprise is formed, 
without his aid being first implored, to which the giory 
of the success is constantly ascribed by public thanks- 
giving, and by oblation of the most precious of the 
spoils, which they never fail to set apart as the indis- 
putable right of the divinity, no matter where we look. 

We find nothing but a profound darkness of the 
gloom which prevails almost universally, and which 
presents nothing to view but absurdities, extravagances,, 
licentiousness and disorder, nothing but a hideous 
chaos of frantic excesses and vices. But there is one 
consolation. People are becoming more enlightened;, 
and ministers complain that they are growing ungodly 



38 THE VOICE OF REASON 

and do not wish to attend church. Whose fault is 
this but their own? They preach too much dogmatic 
religion and too little common sense. They offer a 
premium on sin when they say that the Almighty 
ordained that a good and virtuous man should have 
been sacrificed for the sins of the world. I believe 
that we should sacrifice ourselves for each other; but I 
cannot believe that an all-loving father wantonly put a 
good man to death because he wished to show his love 
for humanity by sacrificing his only-begotten son for 
the atonement of the sins of the world, and thereby 
absolved us from all sin. I believe that every one of 
us is responsible for our misdeeds; and for us ihe only 
way to atone is to lead a virtuous life, and not to com- 
mit sin. 

The doctrine that God has offered his only-begotten 
son as a sacrifice was all right at the time when it was 
promulgated. Had it not been advanced, there would 
not have been a Jew alive to-day, because bigotry 
would have annihilated the whole Jewish race; but as 
long as God had ordained that the Nazarene should be 
sacrificed, it relieves the Jew from all blame. But I 
do not believe that it was the will of God that the 
Nazarene should be sacrificed. I believe that it was 
the will of bigotry and not the will of God. It was 
the will of bigotry which burned at the stake the inno- 
cent John Huss and many good and pious Christians 
because they dared to speak the truth and to expose 
the corruption which existed in the Church. 

If you wish to be saved, serve no god but humanity. 
The Jewish preacher insists that if you believe in Jesus 
you will be damned, will go to hell and suffer ever- 
lasting torment. The Christian preacher is equally 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 39 

sure that if you do not believe in Jesus the same fate 
awaits you; and so you stand between two fires equally 
dangerous. But if you serve humauity you run no risk 
of being damned, as that is the only true religion. 

Superstition and bigotry always were, and still are, 
the greatest enemies of the human race. They re- 
tard progress and keep millions of human beings in 
bondage. When a thinking man discovers that his 
people are pursuing a wrong policy, either politically, 
socially or morally, and endeavors to show them that if 
they persist in following their wrong policy destruction 
will surely overtake them, and when he advocates re- 
form and lays a plan before them whereby the existing 
evil can be remedied the narrow-minded bigot calls him 
a cratik and says that he is a dangerous person who 
ought to be put out of the world. How many reform- 
ers have met with an untimely death because the bigots 
could not see that these reformers were great benefac- 
tors of humanity. But those who were instrumental in 
putting these good and virtuous men out of the way 
had to suffer for their unrighteous deeds; and their 
children's children had to atone with their blood for 
the sins of their fathers; and after rivers of human 
blood had been shed, and men had come to their 
senses, they adopted the very idea that their bene- 
factors advocated. But the bigoted mind is slow to 
relinquish its favorite error for a conflicting truth. 
When a man of scientific attainments who, after years 
of study and research, has discovered a law in Nature 
whereby the whole world is benefited, and made his 
discovery known, the narrow-minded bigot says that 
science is a humbug and that the scientific man is a 
blasphemer, who tries to undermine religion and seeks 
the dethronement of God. 



40 THE VOICE OF REASON 

The scientific man is the true worshiper of God. He> 
worships God by watching the caterpillar's transforma- 
tion into a butterfly. He worships God by planting a 
seed and watching its development. Is it blasphemy 
when the scientific man takes the telescope and make a. 
survey of the universe? Is it blasphemy when he finds 
that there is arrayed an assemblage of vast bodies, 
divided into different systems whose number probably 
surpasses the grains of sand which the sea casts on to 
its shores? Is it blasphemy when he finds that each 
system has at its centre a star or a sun which shines by 
its own light, and round which several orders of opaque 
globes revolve reflecting the brilliancy and the light 
which they borrow from it and which renders them 
visible? What an amazing conception does science 
unfold of the universe, where thousands of thousands- 
of suns multiplied without end by ten thousand times 
ten thousand worlds, all in rapid motion, yet calm,, 
regular and harmonious, invariably keeping the paths 
prescribed to them, and these worlds doubtless peopled 
with millions of beings formed for endless progression 
in perfection and felicity. 

Is it blasphemy when the scientific man takes the- 
microscope and with that instrument penetrates into 
the innermost recesses of Nature's secrets, and finds 
that the most infinitesimal beings are endowed with 
wonderful faculties capable of accomplishing wonder- 
ful things, that the universe is teeming with life, that 
there are immutable laws governing all, that every- 
thing works in unison, that everything in the universe 
is systematic, that all is combination, affinity and con- 
nection, that from the relations which exist between 
all parts of our world by which they conspire to the 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 41 

general end which results in the harmony of the world 
and the relations which unite all the worlds to one an- 
other, constitute the harmony of the universe? Is this 
blasphemy? Is it awe-inspiring? 

Superstition breeds bigotry, aDd bigotry breeds hatred 
and prejudices. Therefore, let us burst asunder the 
chains of superstition and bigotry, and recognize the 
truth that the whole human race is one family, and 
that we owe nothing to each other but love and 
kindness. 



THE HOLY BIBLE AND THE BOOK 
OF NATURE. 



There are two books which claim divine authorship, 
one is the book of Nature, the other is the Bible; but 
the book of Nature is the only book that is entitled to 
that distinction because its construction is harmonious, 
it does not contradict itself, every page is a witness of 
Us authenticity, all Nature reflects its genuineness, we 
find no blunders in it; the code of laws that this book 
contains are immutable and no man can change them. 
The only one who has changed one of these laws was a 
Hebrew butcher, Joshua by name, who was slaughter- 
ing a lot of human beings, and in order to finish his in- 
human brutality he bade the sun to stand still, or the 
earth to stop revolving on its axis, so as to enable him 
to finish his bloody work. 

What rational being can believe that the Creator, who 
is supposed to be full of love and justice, would sus- 
pend one of his laws because a human brute wished to 
finish slaughtering a lot of innocent human beings? 

The inspired author of the Bible thought that the 
earth was flat and that the sun traveled around the 
earth from east to west, and when Joshua wished to 
prolong the day all he had to do was to command the 
sun to stop in its course, and according to the narrative 
Of the inspired author it did stop. 

There have been many absurd ideas advanced at dif- 
ferent ages of the world as to what supported the earth. 



THE VOICE OF REASON. 4:5 

Some supposed it to be shaped like a canoe and to float- 
upon the waters; others that it rested upon the back of 
an elephant, or huge turtle; and some supposed that 
Atlas supported it upon his shoulders; but what kept 
the waters in their place, or upon what the elephant, 
turtle or Atlas stood, was a mystery they could not 
solve. They also supposed that the sun, moon, planets 
and stars revolved around the earth from east to west 
every twenty-four hours, and to account for their not 
falling upon the earth when they passed over it, they 
supposed that they were each fixed in a separate hollow 
crys'alline globe, one within the other. They supposed 
the stars to be in one sphere, as they are kept in the 
same position with respect to each other. To permit 
the light of the stars to pass down to the earth they 
supposed that these spheres or globes were perfectly 
•clear or transparent like glass. This was the conception 
the ancients had of the solar system. 

The gradual and slow ascertainment of astronomical 
truth is a remarkable chapter in the history of the hu- 
man mind. One of its most interesting passages is that 
where the persecutions of Galileo are described. When 
the Copernican system was promulgated, about one 
hundred years before the time of the learned Florentine, 
it was objected to on various grounds. It was said that 
if this system were true Venus ought occasionally to 
appear in phase, as the moon does. One of the first 
"discoveries of Galileo was that Venus did appear in 
phase. Another objection was, how is it possible that 
the earth can move, being a ponderous, mighty body? 
Motion is quite unnatural to such a mass, whose proper 
disposition is sluggishness and repose. The answer of 
Galileo was his discovery by the telescope that even the 



44 THE VOICE OF REASON 

sun revolved on its axis. Again it was said that the 
dignity of the earth, a3 a superior body to the planets,, 
is testified by her having the moon as an attendant. 
Those planets may well have motions in orbits. They 
are trifling in comparison with the earth. They have 
no moons. Galileo made reply by his discovery of the 
four moons of Jupiter, proving that planet to have four 
times the dignity of the earth, if planetary dignity was 
thus to be measured. 

If man did seek the truth, how nappy had been in- 
quirers at the occurrence of so great and wonderful 
a source of knowledge, how welcome would have been 
these revelations of the telescope; but instead they 
were the signal for all discord and passion. Then be- 
gan the fierce war between the old and the new opin- 
ions. Galileo and his telescope were hated. His oppo- 
nents would not even look through the glass and the 
mere sight of it had a terrifying influence. The learned 
Divan of Europe flew back most resolutely on meta- 
physics and would have notting whatever to do with 
the evidence of the senses. 

The discovery of the four new planets, instead of be- 
ing welcomed as throwing new light on the wonders 
and order of the universe, was a heresy which above 
all things must be put down. 

It was evident from the first what would befall Gali- 
leo. In the first place, the idea of the motion of the 
earth was declared heretical. Wh}? Because it con- 
flicted with the Bible. If the assertion of Galileo be 
admitted as a truth, then the story of Joshua must be 
false. It is a well-know fact that the greater portion of 
the earth is covered with water, and as the earth re- 
volves on its axis the water recedes from the poles. 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 45 

toward the equator until its tendency to run back toward 
the poles just balances the effects of the centrifugal 
force. This causes the equatorial diameter to be greater 
than the polar. If the earth should stop revolving on 
its axis the water at the equator would settle away to- 
ward the poles until the earth had assumed the form of 
a globe as nearly as possible, and thus large portions of 
land in the Torrid Zone, which are now covered by the 
ocean, would be left dry and new continents and islands 
would be formed. We have clear proof that Joshua's 
miracle never took place. If such a miracle had hap- 
pened, history would surely have mentioned such a 
great event. 

At a formal and solemn meeting of the sacred college 
Galileo, its most celebrated defender, was cited before 
the reverend tribunal and asked to retract his theory. 
Firm and moderate though he was the instincts of hu- 
man nature at first prevailed and he entered into an 
agreement not to demonstrate again that the earth 
moved. There is no doubt that the venerable astrono- 
mer meant to fulfil his promise, but the man might as 
well have aimed to rule the whirlwind, or to chain the 
thunderbolt; the feeling of truth, the feeling that he 
was possessed of great discoveries, would have burst 
all which he could possibly have compressed within 
himself. Nature does not give a man a great secret 
that he may repose with it. Love of the universe ac- 
cordingly prevailed and again Galileo demonstrated its 
grandeur. A second persecution awaited him, and tais 
time his bigoted persecutors were not so lenient with 
him. He had to choose between two alternatives: one 
was the rack, which was worse than death, the other 
was recanting. Once more bending to the weakness of 



46 THE VOICE OF KEASON 

the flesh he was made to sign the following abjuration: 

"I, Galileo, in the seventieth year of my age, being 
brought personally to justice, being on my knees and 
having before my eyes the holy evangelists, which I 
touch with my own hands, with a sincere heart and faith 
do abjure, curse and detest the error and heresy of the 
motion of the earth." 

What a spectacle! A venerable old man worthy to- 
be the idol of his age, and who has been the worship 
of posterity — one whose gray hairs it might have de- 
lighted every lover of truth to touch in reverence was 
compelled to self-desecration, that unholiest passion in 
man's bosom. 

It seems as a thing greatly to be lamented that there 
should thus be a predisposition to oppose rather than 
welcome new truths, for reason does not deny that 
truths are important to man; but when we consider 
the condition either of the race or of an individual we 
easily see how it is. The race begins in ignorance and 
gradually proceeds to knowledge, every new piece of 
knowledge has accordingly to contend with all the igno- 
rance which still exists, or with the prejudice generated 
by ignorance. The reception of new truth is in the pro- 
portion of the amount of enlightenment or darkness in 
the race at the time when it is presented. Therefore 
truths will never fail to meet with opposition from 
mankind until the last vestige of ignorance is eradi- 
cated, The case is the same with an individual — he 
begins with ignorance and soon becomes imbued with 
all the prejudices which ignorance has created amongst 
his contemporaries, nor does prejudice merely preoc- 
cupy the mind to the exclusion of a just philosophy,. 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 47 

but it warps and weakens the mind itself, so that the 
clearest evidence is insufficient to produce conviction, 

Although man thus begins, it is not designed that he 
should remain ever thus; and it is our duty to use 
every exertion to prepare our own minds and those of 
our fellow-creatures for the reception of truth. 

If the Bible has been constructed by the same author 
who constructed the book of ^Nature, then it ought at 
least bear some trace of his supreme wisdom, benevo- 
lence and power; instead of that it is full of the most 
absurd nonsense and accounts of the most atrocious 
crimes. 

The inspired author gives an account of the creation 
of heaven and the earth, and makes a great blunder. 
He says in the beginning God created heaven and the 
earth. To begin witb,;there is no such place as heaven, 
it exists in the imagination only, the same as angels 
do. The inspired author supposed that heaven was 
situated somewhere above the clouds. 

Astronomers have penetrated into millions of miles 
of space and what have they found? They found that 
the so called heaven, which in reality is space, contains 
millions of solar systems similar to ours; the number 
ot stars or suns in the cluster of the Milky Way is esti- 
mated at many millions, all which, like our sun, re* 
volve around the common centre of gravity. 

According to the inspired author's theory, the earth 
and heaven were composed of water and God was 
floating on top of it. 

He tells us that God split this huge bubble into 
halves: from one half he made heaven and from the 
other half he made the earth; and God made the sun, 
moon and stars, and stuck them into the firmament of 



48 THE VOICE OF REASON 

the heaven. His idea was that this so-called heaven 
was a solid body. Aud God made two great lights, the 
greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule 
the night, and God set them in the firmament of the 
heaven to give light upon the earth. 

This shows how much the inspired author knew 
about the formation of the universe. He supposed 
that the moon was a luminous body the same as the 
sun. but science has proved beyond a doubt that the 
moon is not a luminous body, but merely reflects the 
light of the sun and which renders it visible. The in- 
spired author tells us that God made the world in six 
-days— right here he makes another blunder. We have 
indisputable evidence that this earth is hundreds of 
thousands of years old. Some defenders of the Bible 
have tried to harmonize this biblical nonsense with 
science — they say that the six days mean six periods 
of a thousand y^ars each. Suppose we admit this to 
be the true meaning, we still cannot reconcile it with 
scientific truths. The scientific theory as regards the 
formation of the universe is far more reasonable than 
the biblical. 

The scientific theory is that all the matter composing 
the sun, planets and satellites was diffused through 
space in a state of exceedingly minute division, the ul- 
timate particles being held asunder by the repulsion of 
heat. In process of time, under the action of gravita- 
tion, the mass assumed a round or globular shape, and, 
the particles tending to the centre of gravity, a motion 
of rotation on an axis would commence. The great 
mass, now gradually cooling and condensing, must in- 
crease its rotary motion, thereby increasing the centri- 
fugal force at the equator of the revolving mass until, 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 49 

finally, a ring of matter is actually detached from the 
equator, and is left revolving in space. If now we fol- 
low this isolated matter, we find every reason to believe 
that its particles will gradually coalesce into a globular- 
form, and, in turn, form satellites as it was itself 
formed. 

Is it not reasonable to suppose that the same laws 
which produced one planet from the equator of the 
central revolving ma»s may produce many until, finally, 
the process is ended by a partial solidification of the 
central mass so great that gravity, aided by the attrac- 
tion of cohesion, is more than sufficient to resist the 
action of the centrifugal force and no further change 
occurs? 

The rings of Saturn are positive proof of the truth 
of this theory. They cooled and condensed without 
breaking. Thus the individuals constituting a system 
thus produced must revolve and rotate as do the planets 
and satellites, and in orbits of the precise figure and 
position as those occupied by the planets, this theory 
accounts for the rotation of the sun on its axis and pre- 
sents a solution of the strange appearance connected 
with the sun called the zodiacal light. It goes further, 
and accounts for the. formation of single, double and 
multiple suns and stars, and, by the remains of chaotic 
matter in the interstices between the stars, and which 
are finally drawn to some particular sun whose influ- 
ence in the end predominates, accounts for the comets 
which enter our system from every region in space. 

In support of this theory, the comets in their organi- 
zations present, us with specimens of this finely divided 
nebulous matter, and the telescope reveals cloud-patches 
of light of indefinite extent scattered throughout space, 



50 THE VOICE OE KEASON 

which give evidence of being yet unformed and cha- 
otic; many stars are found in which the bright nucleus 
or centre is surrounded by a halo or haze of nebulous 
light, and round nebulous bodies are seen with the tel- 
escope of an extent having a diameter greater than, 
seven thousand millions of miles. 

This theory shows that the formation of the uni- 
verse has been accomplished by law, and we must ac- 
knowledge that it is now sustained by law. 

The inspired author tells us about the origin of man, 
and makes a blunder. His idea was that God took 
some earth and molded it into the image of himself, 
and breathed into its nostrils the breath of life, and 
there appeared a full grown man. 

The book of Nature, which is the only true book of 
revelation, tells a different story. It reveals that the- 
origin of all living beings is an egg as a body, and man 
is no exception to this rule. 

The egg of an animal is a little spheroidal bag formed 
of a delicate transparent membrane. It contains a 
mass of viscid nutritive matter, within the yelk of 
which is enclosed a second, much more delicate, spher- 
oidal bag. In this lives a more rounded body, termed,, 
the germinal spot. The egg is originally formed within 
a gland from which, in due season, it becomes de- 
tached, and passes into the living chamber fitted for its 
protection and maintenance during the protracted 
process of gestation. Here, when subjected to the 
required condition, this minute and apparently insig- 
nificant particle of living matter becomes animated and 
active. 

The change which the ovum of an animal undergoes 
after continued segmentation has reduced its yelk to a. 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 51 

mulberry-like mass, is the appearance of a greater 
definiteness in the peripheral cells of this mass, each 
of which requires a distinct enveloping membrane. 
These peripheral cells, vaguely distinguished from the 
internal ones by their minuter subdivision a& well as 
by their greater completeness, begin to grow and unite 
to form the germinal membrane. Presently one portion 
of this membrane is rendered unlike the rest by the 
accumulation of cells, still more sub-divided, which 
together form an opaque, roundish spot. This shades 
off gradually into the surrounding parts of the ger- 
minal membrane and the area pellucida, subsequently 
formed in the midst of it, is similarly without precise 
margin. The primitive trace which makes its appear- 
ance in the centre of the area pellucida, and is the 
rudiments of that vertebrate axis, which is to be the 
fundamental characteristic of the mature animal, is 
shown to be at first indefinite, a mere trace. Begin- 
ning as a shallow groove, it becomes slowly more pro- 
nounced, its sides grow higher, their summits overlap,, 
and at last unite; and so the indefinite groove passes 
into a definite tube, forming the vertebral canal. In 
this canal the leading divisions of the brain are at first 
discernible as slight bulgings, while the vertebral com- 
mence as indistinct modifications of the tissue bound- 
ing the canal. 

Simultaneously, the outer surface of germinal mem- 
brane has been differentiating from the inner surface. 
There has arisen a division at the outset, indistinct and 
traceable only about the germinal area, but which 
insensibly spread throughout nearly the whole ger- 
minal membrane, and becomes definite from the mu- 
cous layer. The development of the alimentary canal 



52 THE VOICE OF REASON 

proceeds as*that of the vertebral canal does, from the 
serous layer, originally a simple channel along the 
under surface of the embryonic mass. 

The intestine is rendered distinct by the bending 
down on each side of ridges which finally join to form 
a tube. The permanent absorbing surface is by degrees 
cut off from the temporary absorbing surface with 
which it was continuous and uniform, and in an anal- 
ogous manner the entire embryo, which at first lies 
outspread on the yelk-sack, gradually rises up from it, 
and by the infolding of its ventral region becomes a 
separate mass, connected with the yelk-sack only by a 
narrow duct. 

These changes, through which the general structure 
is marked out with slowly increasing precision, are 
paralleled in the evolution of each organ. The heart 
begins as a mere aggregation of cells, of which the 
inner liquify to form blood, while the outer are trans- 
formed into the walls, and when thus sketched out, the 
heart is indefinite, not only as being outlined by limit- 
ing membrane, but also as being little more than a 
dilatation of the central blood vessel. By and by the 
receiving portion of the cavity becomes distinct from 
the propelling portion. Afterwards, there begins to 
grow across the ventricle a septum, which, some time 
before it shuts off the two halves from each other, 
while the latter formed septum of the auricle remains 
incomplete during the whole of fetal life. 

The liver commences by multiplication of certain 
cells in the wall of the intestines. The thickening pro- 
duced- by this multiplication increases so as to form a 
projection upon the exterior of the canal, and at the 
same time that the organ grows and becomes distinct 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 53 

from the intestine, the channels running through it 
are transformed into ducts having clearly marked 
walls. Similarly certain cells of the external coat 
of the alimentary canal at its upper portion accumulate 
into buds, from which the lungs are developed, and 
these in their general outlines and detailed structure 
acquire distinctness, step by step; and so the process 
of development goes on, and by and by little buds 
make their appearance, and, by degrees, assume the 
shape of limbs, and finally the law of evolution brings 
a human being into the world. 

Is not ihe origin of man as we find it in the book of 
Nature more marvelous than we find in the Promethean 
theory. When we penetrate into the innermost re- 
cesses of Nature's secrets, we are amazed at the om- 
nipotence of the law of evolution. 

Let us mentally review the origin of a human being 
and contemplate his development. From a minute 
speck called the ovum has evolved a human being en- 
dowed with wonderful faculties, capable of accom- 
plishing wonderful things. By knowing what we are 
it enables us to lead upright and virtuous lives, be- 
cause we know that Nature has provided certain laws 
for our guidance. We know that we are made up of 
many parts, and we also know that each part must 
obey certain laws that Nature has established for their 
welfare. We know that when one part violates its 
prescribed law the whole body has to suffer. Each 
function has some relation to the needs of life If 
there is defective discharge of the function the whole or- 
ganization experiences some detrimental result, caused 
by the inadequacy. If the discharge is in excess, 
there is entailed a reaction upon the other functions 



54 THE VOICE OF REASON 

which diminishes their efficiency. This shows that 
a virtuous life is conducive of beneficial results, while 
a dissipated life naturally results in a complete break- 
down of Nature's forces. It also shows that virtue 
will lead to beneficial results and vice to destruction. 

The book of Nature shows clearly that man in an 
animal, and his only superiority is that he knows the 
difference between good and evil. Yet God tried to 
prevent man from becoming possessed of this knowl- 
edge, and when he discovered that the man he had 
made did possess it he became fearful. And the Lord 
God said: Behold, the man is become as one cf us, 
and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the 
tree of life and live and eat forever; therefore the Lord 
God sent him out of the Garden of Eden. 

What a misfortune that would have been! Had 
Adam been permitted to eat of the tree of life he 
would be alive to-day, but God saw that there was much 
danger in allowiog such a thing to take place, because 
Adam named all the animals that God created, and this 
would cause some dispute among zoologists; and God, 
not wishing to have Adam and our modern zoologists 
come to blows, drove Adam out of the Garden of Eden, 
and placed at the east of the garden a cherubim and a 
flaming sword which turned every way, and thus kept 
Adam away from the tree of life. 

By this time Adam knew that he was to die, and if 
he did not do something, the human race would be 
extinct with his death. So, after the banishment from 
the Garden of Eden, he devoted hin self to the propa- 
gation of the human race. Therefore Adam knew 
Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bare Cain; and 
she again bore his brother Abel. Abel was a keeper of 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 55 

sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground; and in 
process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of 
the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord, and 
Abel also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of 
the fat thereof. The Lord had respect unto Abel and 
his offering, but unto Cain he had not respect, and 
Cain was very wroth, aud his countenance fell. 

This partiality kindled the flame of jealousy in the 
heart of Cain, and he slew his brother Abel. This 
shows that God was .he very first one who fomented 
strife and hatred amongst men. It is strange that he 
should prefer mutton instead of fruit as his diet, but 
we need not wonder at this, because, according to the 
inspired author's theory, God is partly human. Has he 
not made man in his own image? and if so, he is en- 
dowed with human appetites. And if he liked mutton 
better than fruit, we have nothing to say; but it is a 
pity that his displeasure should have caused murder. 
Until the time of this murder the human family con- 
sisted of four persons — Adam, his wife Eve, and their 
two sons, Cain and Abel. These were all the human 
beings that existed on this earth, and alter Cain slew 
his brother Abel, he went from the presence of the 
Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod. This land was 
situated on the east side of Eden, and in this country 
Cain found a wife. And Cain knew his wife, and she 
conceived and bare a son, whose name was Enoch. 
Right here the inspired author leaves us in a maze. 
He says distinctly that there were only three people on 
this earth, and yet Cain went into a land situated on 
the east side of the Garden of Eden and there took a 
wife unto himself. 



56 THE VOICE OF REASON 

What a contradiction is this statement! He tells us- 
that Eve was the only woman on this earth, and yet 
Cain found in the land of Nod a wife which he took 
unto himself. Can we find anything so inconsistent as 
this story is, and yet this incongruity has been handed 
down to us by an author who was divinely inspired. 
What answer can the adherents of the Bible give to- 
such an inconsistency? 

It seems that all was well with God until he created 
man. Everything he made worked in unison and in 
harmony, but man caused him much trouble; and it 
repented the Lord that he made man on the earth,, 
and it grieved him at his heart, and the Lord said, I 
will destroy man whom I have created from the face 
of the earth. It seems that he was mad clean through, 
because he says, "Both man and beast and fowls of the 
air will I destroy; for it repenteth me that I have made 
them." It seems that when he made man he did not 
know how man would turn out; it seems that he was 
merely experimenting, and found to his sorrow that he 
made a great mistake when he made man, and he re- 
gretted it. But when he made up his mind to destroy 
them, there appeared one gentleman who found grace 
in the eyes of the Lord. This gentleman's name was 
Noah; and so God told him what his intentions were. 
"And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh has 
come before me; for the earth is filled with violence 
through them, and behold I will destroy them with the 
earth." 

"But thou hast found favor in my eyes, and I will 
save thee Therefore make thee an ark of gopher 
wood. Rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt 
pitch it within and without with pitch, and this is the 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 57 

fashion which thou shalt make it: the length of the 
ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it 
fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A win- 
dow shalt thou make to the ark and in a cubit shalt 
thou finish it above, and the door of the ark shalt thou 
set in the side thereof, with lower, second and third 
stories shalt thou make it." 

When God completed his instruction in regard to the 
ark, then he unfolded his scheme how he was going to 
destroy the world, and says, "Behold ! I, even I, do bring 
a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh 
wherein is the breath of life from under the heaven 
and everything that is in the earth shall die." 

The book of Nature shows that God and all his laws 
are immutable, but the Holy Bible shows him to be 
fickle-minded. He makes up his mind to destroy all 
living beings, and at the earae time he tells Noah to 
take into the ark. "Of every living thing of all flesh, two 
of every sort," He says to Noah,"shalt thou bring into the 
ark to keep them alive with thee; they shall be 
male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle 
after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth 
alter his kind ; two of every sort shall come unto thee, to 
keep them alive. And take thou of all food that is eaten, 
and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food 
for thee and for them. Thus did Noah ; according to all 
that God commanded him, so did he." 

At first God told Noah to take only two of a kind into 
the ark, but when the ark was completed he changed 
his mind and told him to take into it: "Of every clean 
beast seven, the male and his female; and of beasts 
that are not clean by two, the male and his female; of 



58 THE VOICE OF KEASON 

fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; 
to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth." 

How nonsensical does this story appear. It would be 
just as sensible for a man to remove his goods from his 
store to a safe place, then flood his store and say that he 
destroyed the goods. According to the Holy Bible this 
is the very thing God did. He was going to flood the 
earth, and by so doing he was to destroy all living 
things, but he tells Noah to build an ark and take into 
it the male and the female of every species, so as to 
preserve them from destruction. Is this not self con- 
tradictory? 

But we have other proof that the Bihle contradicts it- 
elf most grossly. The inspired author gives us the di- 
mensions of the ark and tells us that it was three hun- 
dred cubits in length, fifty cubits in breadth and thirty 
cubits in height. According to these figures the ark 
was not large enough to hold the food for such an im- 
mense menagerie; and where did Noah put all the liv- 
ing things that he was commanded to take into the ark? 
But we must not question such an inconsistency, be- 
cause it is Holy Writ, yet how can we reconcile such 
glaring falsehood with man's most holy gift — truth? 
Sincerity and truth are the foundations of all virtue. 
Truth is born with us, and we do violence to our nature 
when we shake off our veracity. 

At last Noah and his family, "and every beast after his 
kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creep- 
ing thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, 
and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort," 
went into the ark, male and female, "as God commanded 
him; and the Lord shut him in." 

"And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 59 

the waters increased, and bore up the ark, and it was 
lifted up above the earth. . . . 

"And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the 
earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole 
heaven, were covered. . . . 

"And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both 
of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creep- 
ing thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every 
man: . . . 

"And every living substance was destroyed which was 
upon the face of the ground, both man and cattle, and 
the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and 
they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only re- 
mained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. 

"And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hun- 
dred and fifty days." 

"And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, 
and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and 
God made a wind to pass over the earth; and the wa;ers 
assuaged; . . . 

"And God spake unto Noah, saying, 

"Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy 
sons, and thy sons' wives with thee. 

"Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with 
thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of ev- 
ery creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that 
they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruit- 
ful, and multiply upon the earth. 

"And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, 
and his sons' wives with him; 

"Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl 
and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their 
kinds, went forth out of the ark. 



60 THE VOICE OF KEASON 

"And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took 
of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and of- 
fered burnt- offerings on the altar. 

"And the Lord smelled a sweet savour, and the Lord 
said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any 
more for man's sake." 

It is disgusting to think that a god should require of- 
ferings of food and receive a physical satisfaction there- 
from Human reason rebels against such absurdities, 
yet our religious teachers tell us, that unless we believe 
in this nonsense we will surely go to hell. These ab- 
surdities are the outgrowth ©f ignorance and supersti- 
tion, and we find that from the most remote ages men 
have tried to associate God with themselves. Tne sav- 
age who crouched in a dark cave believed that God was 
a being similar to himself and endowed with human 
propensities. If a man liked mutton better than beef, 
he offered to his god muttcn; and if he liked fowl bet- 
ter, then he offered fowl to his god, because he thought 
that what pleased him must also be pleasing to his god y 
therefore do we find in the Bible such a variety of of- 
ferings. But all this nonsense has been done away 
with, yet God still exists and seems to get along just as 
well without the offerings that have been so pleasing to 
him. Even in this enlightened age man still believe& 
that everything that happeLS is in reference to him, 
that by his actions he excites the anger or the pleasure 
of God, and that by flattery and prayer he can turn God 
from his purpose. 

There is a ckss of people in existence to-day who, 
when a member of their family is taken ill, instead of 
calling in a physician who might administer some med- 
icine that, would relieve the patient's suffering, congre- 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 61 

gate at the patient's bedside and give him, or her, a 
dose of prayer. If the patient gets well, then it was 
their prayers that did it; if not, then they say it was 
the will of God that the patient should die. But the 
most eminent physicians will testify that there has been 
more people killed by this process than cured. This 
shows that the human race is as superstitious to-day as 
it was in the time of Noah. 

"And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto 
them, Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth," 
and so the earth was replenished, "and the whole earth 
was of one language and of one speech. And it came 
to pass, as they journeyed from the east that they found 
a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 
And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, 
and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for 
stone, and slime for mortar. And they said, Go to, let 
us build us a city, and a tower whose top may reach 
unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be 
scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 
And the Lord came down to see the city and the 
tower which the children of men builded." 

It seems that God was not on this earth when the 
children of men builded this city, and therefore he had 
to come down and have a look at it; when he saw it 
he was chagrined. "And the Lord said, Behold, the 
people is one, and they have all one language; and this 
they began to do; and now nothing will be restrained 
from them which they have imagined to do." 

If this same God could come down and have a look 
at the achievements of mankind since the time of the 
building of the great tower, and behold our steam en- 
gines, our electric motors, and the different contrivances 



62 THE VOICE OF REASON 

which human ingenuity has contrived, he would be 
more than chagrined; and it is lucky for us that he 
does not come down. If he did his anger would be 
so great that he would surely annihilate us. God, not 
wishiDg to be outdone by the people, went down and 
confounded their language that they might not under- 
stand one another's speech. u So the Lord scattered 
them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth; 
and they left off to build the city." It seems that the 
human race always had a longing for a universal broth- 
erhood of man, aud therefore got together and builded 
a city, and endeavored to live in peace and in harmony, 
but it was displeasing to God, and he confounded their 
language and scattered them abroad. This shows that 
it is no use for us to advocate a universal brotherhood 
of man because God does not wish it; and ther^ is no 
use for us to do things that are against his wishes. 

When the people dispersed from the land of Shinar, 
they lapsed into wickedness; and God was grieved, but 
he found one man in whom he was well pleased. This 
man's name was Abram, and God was afraid that if 
this good man was allowed to stay amongst the wicked 
people he might become contaminated. "And the Lord 
said unto Abram, Get thee out of the country, and 
from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto 
the land that I will show thee; and I will make of thee 
a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy 
name great; and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will 
bless him that will bless thee and curse him that 
curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth 
be blessed." 

The egotism that this paragraph contains cannot be 
surpassed. We fail to see in what way have all the 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 63 

families of the earth been blessed. If it is iu the 
Bible, then it has been more of a curse than a bless- 
ing. Eivers of human blood have been shed on its ac- 
count, and the cruelties that have been practised in its 
name are too horrible to relate. That book, instead of 
producing peace on earth and good will toward men, 
has produced the most intense hatred and prejudice. 
That infamous book commands you to kill your sister, 
your brother and the wife of your bosom; that book 
commands you to kill your dearesc friend. The Naza- 
rene suffered an ignominious death on account of its- 
teaching. 

Deuteronomy, chapter 13th, reads as follows: "If 
there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of 
dreams, and giveih thee a sign or a wonder, and the 
sign or the wonder come to pass whereof he spake unto 
thee, saying, Lst us go after other gods, thou shalt not 
harken unto the words of that prophet," but ye shall 
put him to death, "because he has spoken to turn you 
away from the Lord your God." The Jews considered 
the Nazirene as a false prophet and an impostor, and 
therefore were in duty bound to put him to death. 
]Sot only did the Jews of that time think that the Naz- 
arene was an impostor, but the Jews of to-day, and 
many Christians, think likewise. 

"If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, 
or thy daughter, or the wife o l thy bosom, or thy friend, 
which is as dear as thine own soul, entice thee, saying, 
Let us go and serve other gods, thou shalt not consent 
unto him, neither shalt thine eye pity him, neither 
shalt thou conceal him, 

"But thou shalt surely kill him;, thine hand shall be 



64 THE VOICE OF REASON 

first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the 
hand of all the people 

"And thou shalt stone him with stones that he die: 
because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the 
Lord thy God." 

Is it auy wonder that when the Christians made cap- 
tives of Jewish children, and forcibly converted them 
to Christianity, that they drove the mothers of these 
children to madness and deeds of agonized desperation 
that they threw their children into wells and rivers, 
to prevent them from falling into the hands of the 
Christians? 

Some people might think that this was a cruel pro- 
ceeding on the part of these mothers. It does seem so 
to the Freethinker, because he knows that the one 
humbug is no better than the other. 

But these poor deluded mothers who believed that 
the Bible was the word of God, and that Jehovah, the 
only true God, and the Christian God was an impostor, 
and to forsake the true God meant to surfer everlasting 
torment, and, as this life is only transitory and by kill- 
ing our loved ones we can send them to a place of 
eternal joy, then we do them a kindness by killing 
them. 

If we reason thi* way, then cruel murder becomes 
pure love, and the bigots of the Holy Inquisition 
thought that they were doing their friends a kindness 
when they burned them alive and «ent them to heaven. 
It was the false teachings of the Bible that made these 
crimes possible, because the God of the Bible is a re- 
vengeful God. He provided a place of torment for 
those who turned away from him. But this diabolical 
Jehovah has no terror for me, because I am convinced 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. Go 

that he is a myth, and only existed in the brain of an 
impostor who used him as an instrument to terrify a 
lot of ignorant slaves into submission. The Bible has 
been and still is a stumbling-block in the way of prog- 
ress, but the time will come when this book will be 
held in derision, and it will take its place at the side of 
heathen mythology, and the future generations will 
wonder at the stupidity of their ancestors that they 
were so foolish as to believe that the Bible was the 
word of God. 

Some people call falsehood truth and truth false- 
hood. These people are so blinded by superstition that 
they cannot see truth when it is pointed out to them. 
These narrow-minded bigots say that writings of Free' 
thinkers are nothing but blasphemies; this statement 
is as false as is their God. The writings of Freethink- 
ers are saturated with a lofty and determinate purity. 
They give out some of the noblest thoughts; they 
breathe forth the noblest sentiments. We cannot help 
being charmed by all they say. They exhort us to be 
morally clean ; they seek to establish true love among 
men ; their teachings bid us to assume moral supremacy. 
The Freethinkers have left indestructible monuments, 
monuments which are a blessing to the human race. 
They made free speech possible, but the bigots have 
left bloody records, which make us shudder when we 
read them. If there is such a thing as blasphemy, the 
Bible is the most blasphemous book that was ever 
written, for it ascribes to a just and loving God the 
most atrocious crimes. 

The narrow-minded bigots say that the Freethinkers 
are blasphemers. Who are the blasphemers, we or 
they? They say it was the will of God that Joshua 



66 THE VOICE OF REASON 

should exterminate the Canaanites; we say that it was 
the will of a brute and the love of aggrandizement. 
They say that it was the will of God that the Nazarene 
should be crucified; we say that it was the will of big- 
otry. They have malice and hatred in their bosoms; 
we have love and human sympathy. We do not hate 
those who believe in the successor of the most per- 
fidious wretch; we pity them that they should be so 
ignoraDt as to believe him to be infallible and obey his 
mandates. We do not despise the Salvation Army, who 
are a disgrace to the nineteenth-century civilization; 
we pity them that they should be so senseless as to 
make jac kasses of themselves and not see themselves 
as others see them. The narrow-minded bigots, if they 
had the power, would exterminate all Freethinkers, 
but we shall devote ourselves to a better cause. We 
shall devote ourselves to the uplifting of our fellow- 
men, and emancipate them from the bondage of igno- 
rance and superstition. 

Why did God take such a fancy to Abram? It must 
have been on account of the latter's gallantry. The 
story of Abram's dishonorable conduct when he went 
into Egypt has been told in the first chapter of this 
series, and need not be repeated here. But let us re- 
view that story and judge impartially. The first ques- 
tion that presents itself to our view is: Did Abram 
have confidence in his God? If so, why was he afraid 
that the Egyptians would kill him, and had to resort to 
such a dishonorable compact with his wife? What 
respect can we have for a man whose selfishness and 
cowardice lead him to seek protection fro u his wife? 
Is not such a character most debasing? We can find 
thousands of men who would risk their lives in defence 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 67 

of their wives' honor. Had Abram not denied his 
wife she would not have been polluted by Pharaoh, 
who, as soon as he found out that Sarah was Abram's 
wife, said to him: "Behold thy wife; take her and 
go thy way." Tnis shows that there was some honor 
in Pharaoh, but none in Abram. And what can 
we think of a god who brings plagues on the inno- 
cent, and lets the guilty go unpunished? Pharaoh had 
a legal rigtu to make Sarah his wife, because Abram 
told him that she was his sister. 

As a reward for Abram's baseness God said to him, 
"Lift up thine eyes, and look from the place where 
thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and 
westward; for all the land which thou seest, to thee 
will I give it and to thy seed forever." It seems that 
the God of the Bible is one who does not keep his 
promise. Abram was an adept at deception, and his 
god seems to have been about the same. God prom- 
ised that he would give all the land that Abram saw to- 
his seed forever. But has he kept his promise? Are 
not Abram's seed scattered over the face of the whole 
earth? Then he tells him that he will make his seed 
as numerous as the dust of the earth, and as the dust 
of the earth cannot be counted, so will be the seed of 
Abram. Has God fulfilled his promise? It is true 
that the dust of the earth cannot be numbered, but 
the seed of Abram has been, and, in comparison with 
the rest of the race, are no more than a grain of sand 
at the seashore. 

Abram was somewhat dubious in regard to these 
promises, and it seems that he was justified in feeling 
so. They have not yet been fulfilled. They turned 
out contrariwise. Abram said: "Lord God, whereby. 



68 THE VOICE OF REASON 

shall I know that I shall inherit all that thou hast 
promised me?" 

"And God said unto Abram: Take a heifer of three 
years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram 
of three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young 
pigeon. And he took unto him all these and divided 
them in the midst, and laid each piece one against the 
other, but the birds divided he not. And when the 
fowls came down upon the carcasses Abram drove 
them away; and when the sun was going down a deep 
sleep fell on Abram, and God said unto him: Know 
of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land 
that is not theirs and shall serve them, and they shall 
afflict them four hundred years, and also that nation 
whom tuey serve will I judge, and afterwards shall 
they come out with substance, and thou shalt go to thy 
fathers in peace, Thou shalt be buried in a good old 
age, but in the fourth generation they shall come 
hither again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not 
yet full." 

Jewish and Christian theologians dwell much on this 
story, and point with pride to it, and say: "Have not 
all these things come to pass?" They forget that the 
Bible had been written after these things had taken 
place, and therefore it was easy to verify them. But can 
they tell us why God punished the Egyptians? Have 
they not obeyed his command? And if it was the will 
of God that the Egyptians should afflict Abram's seed, 
they were blameless — they merely obeyed God. It also 
seems that it was the will of God that the Amor- 
ites should be more steeped in iniquity, because he 
says that the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full._ 
It seems hardly possible that God would try to make 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 69« 

the sinner harder than he is, j?et the Bible shows this 
to be a fact. 

We crave pardon lor digressing from our subject, and 
not telling the reader what became of the carcasses, 
therefore we will proceed at once. 

When the sun went down and it was dark, behold, a 
burning lamp passed between those pieces and con- 
sumed them, and in that same day, the Lord made a 
covenant with Abram, saying, unto thy seed have I 
given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great 
river, the river Euphrates. 

"Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bare him no children:: 
and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name 
was Hagar. 

"And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord 
has restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in 
unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by 
her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. 

"And Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar her maid, the 
Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land 
of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be 
his wife " 

This shows that sarai was a very good and consider- 
ate wife: she saw that Abram was disgusted with God's 
promises, and felt bad in regard to Sarai not having 
any children, so Sarai recommended her maid Hagar 
for Abram to try what he could do with her; and 
Abram, being a good husband, did not require much 
coaxing, and he hearkened to the voice of his wife, and 
he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived, and when 
she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was de- 
spised in her eyes. 



70 THE VOICE OF REASON 

Our wives are not so liberal-minded. They possibly 
profited by studying the Bible, and saw the evil result 
of such liberality; and so did Sarai, but it was too late, 
and when she saw the mistake she made she said unto 
Abram: 

"My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid 
unto thy bosom; and when she saw that she had con- 
ceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge be- 
tween me and thee. 

"And Abram said UDto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in 
thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when 
Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face. 

"And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain 
of water in the wilderness, by the fountain on the way 
to Shur. 

"And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence comest 
thou? and whither wilt thou go?" 

How preposterous is this angel story! It seems that 
he never saw Hagar before, yet he knew her name and 
also knew that she was Sarai's maid, but did not know 
from whence she came and whither she was going. 
And Hagar answered the supposed angel that she was 
fleeing from the face of her mistress Sarai. Finally, 
the aogel of the Lord advised her to return to her mis- 
tress, and she did, and Hagar bare Abram a sod, and 
Abram named his son, which Hagar bare, Ishmael. 

By this time Abram was ninety nine years old, and 
"the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am 
the Almighty God: walk before me, and be thou per- 
fect. 

"And I will make my covenant between me and 
thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. 



AND TRUTH JUL ECHOES. 71 

"And I will establish my covenant between me and 
thy seed after thee, in their generations, for an ever- 
lasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and thy seed 
after thee." 

And God said unto him, "This my covenant, which 
ye shall keep, between me and you, and thy seed after 
thee; Every man child among you shall be circum- 
cised. 

"And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; 
and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and 
you. 

"And the uncircumcised man child, whose flesh of 
his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut 
off from his people." 

Is it possible to believe that God commanded Abram 
to perform this barbarous rite, and to disinherit the rest 
of the human race on account of it? Yet there are 
millions of people who believe that this was God's com- 
mand. At this barbarous covenant God changed the 
name of Abram and of his wife Sarai. 

"And God said to Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, 
thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah." 

The Bible gives a reason for the change of names, 
but we think that Abraham must have failed in busi- 
ness, or-he wished to travel under an assumed name, 
because at this time he was well known, and if he did 
co abroad and wished to pass off his wife as his sister 
he could not do so. 

We will show later on that Abraham increased his 
wealth by his duplicity. 

After Abraham's circumcision God "appeared unto 
him in the plains of Mature; and he sat in the tent-door 
in the heat of the day: 



72 THE VOICE OF REASON 

"And he lifted up his eyes and looted, and lo, three- 
men stood by him; an^i when he saw them, he ran to 
meet them from the tent-door, and bowed himself to- 
ward the ground, 

"And said, My Lord, if now I have found favor in 
thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: 

"And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah r 
and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine 
meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth. 

"And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf 
tender and good, and gave it unto a young man ; and he 
hasted to dress it. 

"And he took butter and milk, and the calf which he 
had dressed, and set it before Ihem; and he stood by 
them under the tree, and they did eat." 

The three men that Abraham entertained were not 
ordinary men; the spokesman was God himself, and the 
other two were angels. 

It has been generally supposed that God and his 
angels are immortal, and therefore do not eat, but the 
Brble says that God and his angels did eat. And when 
they had satisfied their appetites, they asked Abraham 
where his wife was, and he told them that she was in 
the tent. God said: "I will certainly return unto thee 
according to the time of life. And v Sarah, thy wife r 
shall have a son." And Sarah heard it in the tent 
doer, which was behind him. Therefore Sarah laughed 
within herself, saying, "After I am waxed old shall 
I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" God, know- 
ing our inmost thoughts; was able to know what Sarah 
was thinking about, and he rebuked her for her lack of 
faith And the Lord said unto Abraham: "Wherefore 



AND TKUTIIFUL ECHOES. 73' 

did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I of a surety bear a 
child, which am old?' Is anything hard for the Lord? 
At the time appointed I will return unto thee accord- 
ing to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son."' 
Then Sarah denied, saying," I laughed noi," for she 
was afraid. And God said, "Away; thou didst laugh." 
It is no wonder that Sarah laughed. The story is fool- 
ish enough to make a horse laugh. 

At last the menfin disguise "rose up from thence, and 
looked toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them 
to bring them on the way. 

"And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that 
thing which I do; 

"Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great 
and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth 
shall be blessed in him?*' 

So the Lord unbosomed himself to Abraham, and said r 

"Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, 
and because their sin is very grievous; 

"I will go down now, and see whether they have done- 
altogether according to the cry of it, which is come 
unto me, and if not, I will know." 

It seems that someone told God about the doings of 
these two cities, but he did net believe this report, so. 
he thought it would be better for him to convince him- 
self of its truth, and the two in disguise, "turned their 
faces from thence and went toward Sodom; but Abra- 
ham stood yet before the Lord. 

"And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also> 
destroy the righteous with the wicked? 

"Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the 
city; will thou also destroy and not spare the place fo 
the fifty righteous that are within? 



/4 THE VOICE OF TIEASON 

"That be far from thee to do after this manner, to 
slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the right- 
eous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: 
Shall not the Judge of all the earth do light?" 

This is certainly a very fine argument. If the right- 
eous Judge of all the earth should commit an injustice, 
what can be expected from the common people? But 
Abraham forgot that, when he deceived Pharaoh by tell- 
ing him that Sarah was his sister, and Pharaoh inno- 
cently took her to his house, God, instead of punishing 
Abraham for his wicked deception, brought plagues 
upon Pharaoh and his house. Can such an act be 
called just? Yet we find Abraham pleadirjg in behalf 
of Sodom and Gomorrah, and telling God that it would 
be a bad example if he destroyed the righteous with the 
wicked; and it seems that Abraham's pleading had a 
good effect. "And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom 
fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the 
place for their sakes." This answer certainly shows 
benevolence; but we will show that according to the 
Bible n&rratives God acted contrariwise in most cases. 

But Abraham's pleadiugs were useless, because God 
could not find even ten righteous in these cities, and so 
they were destroyed; and the Bible says that "the Lord 
went his way, as soon as he had left communing with 
Abraham : and Abraham returned unto his place. 

"And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and 
Lot sat in the gate of Sodom; and Lot seeing them, 
rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with^his 
face toward the ground; 

"And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray 
you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and 
wash your feet; and ye shall rise up early, and go on 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 70 

your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in 
the street all night. 

"And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned 
in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made 
thein a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they 
did eat." 

Jewish and Christian theologians say that angels are 
immortal and do not eat; but the Holy Bible proves 
that they are mistaken, and that angels do eat. Can 
they set aside the veracity of Abraham, or of Lot? Oar 
religious preachers say that every word the Bible con- 
tains is God's truth, and it is blasphemy to say that it 
•is not. 

The angels were so pleased with the supper that Lot 
gave them, that they made up their minds to save him 
and his family, "and when the morning arose, then the 
angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and 
thy two daughers, which are here; lest thou be con- 
sumed in the iniquity of the city. 

"And while he lingered, they laid hold upon his 
■hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the 
hands of his two daughters; and they brought him forth, 
and sat him without the city. 

"And it came to pass, when they had brought them 
forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life: look not 
behind thee. . . . 

"Then the Lord rained upon Sodom, and upon Go- 
morrah, brimstone and fire from the Lord out of 
heaven ; 

"And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, 
and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which 
grew upon the ground." 



76 THE VOICE OF REASON 

But Lot's wife had a woman's curiosity and looked' 
behind her, and she became a pillar of salt. 

"And Abraham got up early in the morning to the 
place where he stood before the Lord: 

"And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and 
toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and lo, the 
smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace." 

The Chaldean legend of creation is, that in the be- 
ginning all was darkness and water, and therein were 
generated monstrous animals of strange and peculiar 
forms. -And when the upper region was not yet called 
heaven, and the lower region was not yet called earth, 
and the abyss of Hades had not yet opened its arms,, 
then the chaos of waters gave birth to all, and the wa- 
ters were gathered into one place; men dwelt not as 
yet together and no animals as yet wandered about. 
Then Belus appeared and split the waters in twain, and 
of the one half he made the heaven; and of the other 
half he made the earth; and he split the darkness and 
divided the heaven and the earth asunder, and put the 
world in order; and the animals that could not bear the 
light perished. Belus upon this, seeing that Khe earth 
was desolate yet teeming with productive powers, com- 
manded one of the gods to cut off his head and mix the 
blood which flowed forth with the earth and form men 
therewith and beasts that could bear the light. So man 
was made and was intelligent, being a partaker of the 
divine wisdom. Likewise Belus made the stars, and 
the sun, and the moon, and the five planets, . . and he 
constructed dwellings for the great gods. He fixed the 
constellations, whose figures were like aDimals. He- 
made the year into portions; he divided it into twelve 
months; he established them with their constellations.. 



AND TRUTH FUL ECHOES. 77 

three by three, and from among the days of the year he 
appointed festivals. He made dwellings for the planets, 
for their lising and for their setting, and, that nothing 
should go wrong nor come to a stand, he placed along 
with them the dwellings of Bel and Hea; and he opened 
great gates on all sides, making strong the portals on 
the left and on the right, and in the centre he placed 
luminaries. The moon he set on high to circle through 
the night and made it wander all the night until the 
dawning of the day. Each month, without fail, it 
brought together festan assemblies in the beginning of 
the month, at the rising of the night shooting forth its 
horns to illuminate the heavens, and on the seventh 
day a holy day appointing, and commanding on that 
day a cessation from all business. 

The following is the Chaldean account of the deluge, 
as rendered from the transactions of the Society of Bib- 
lical Archaeology, with some lines mutilated: 

u And Hea the Almighty spake to me and said, son 
of Ubaratutu, make a ship after this fashion . . . for 
I destroy the sinners and life . . . and cause to enter 
in all the seed of life that thou mayest preserve them. 
The ship which thou shalt make- . . . cubits shall be 
the measure of the length thereof, and . . . cubits the 
measure of the breadth and height thereof, and into 
the deep thou shalt launch it. 

"I understood, and said to my Lord— Hea, my Lord, 
this which thou commandest me, I will perform, though 
I be derided both by young and old, it shall be done. 
Hea opened his mouth and spake, This shalt thou say 
to them . . . and enter thou into the ship, and shut 
the door, and bring into the midst of it thy grain, and 



78 THE VOICE OF REASON 

thy furniture, and thy goods, thy wealth, thy servants, 
thy female slaves and thy young men, and I will gather 
to thee the beasts of the field and the animals, and I 
will bring them to thee, and shall be enclosed within 
thy door. Hasisadra his mouth opened and spake, and 
said to Hea, his Lord, there was not upon the earth a 
man who could make the ship . . . strong planks I 
brought ... on the fifth day ... in its circuit four- 
teen measures it measured in its sides, fourteen meas- 
ures it measured . . . and upon it I placed its roof and 
closed the door. On the sixth day I embarked in it t 
on the seventh 1 examined it without, on the eighth I 
examined it within; planks against the influx of the 
waters I placed, where I saw rents and holes I added 
what was required, three measures of bitumen I poured 
over the outside, three measures of bitumen I poured 
over the inside. . . . Wine in receptacles I collected 
like the waters of a river; also food like the dust of the 
earth I collected in boxes and stored up, and Shamas 
the material of the ship completed and made it strong, 
and the reed oars of the ship I caused them to bring 
and place above and below. . . . A.11 I possessed of 
silver, all I possessed of gold, all I possessed of the 
seed of life I caused to ascend into the ship; all my 
male servants, all my female servants, all the beasts of 
the field, all the animals, all the sons of the people I 
caused to go up. A flood Shamas made, and thus he 
spake in the night: I will cause it to rain from heaven 
heavily. Enter into the midst of the ship, and shut 
thy door. 

"The command of Shamas is obeyed, and then the 
raging of a storm in the morning arose from the hori- 
zon of heaven, extending far and wide. Vul, in the 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 79 

midst of it, thundered; Xebo and Saru went in front, 
the throne-bearers sped over mountains and plains; 
the destroyer, Nernal, overturned; Ninip went in 
front and cast down the spirits, spread abroad destruc- 
tion, in their fury ihey swept the earth. The flood of 
Vul reached to heaven. The bright earth was turned 
to a waste, the storm over its surface swept, from the 
face of the earth was life destroyed. Th« strong flood 
that had overwhelmed mankind reached to heaven; 
brother baw not brother; the flood did not spare the 
people. Even in heaven the gods feared the tempest, 
and sought refuge in the abode of Anu. Like dogs the 
gods crouched down and cowered together. Then 
spake Ishtar, like a child uttered the great goddess, 
When the world to corruption turned, then I in the 
presence of the gods prophesied evil. When I in the 
presence of the gods prophesied evil, then to evil were 
devoted all my people. I, the mother, have given 
birth to my people, and now like the young fishes they 
fill the sea. 

"The gods in their seats were sitting in lamentation; 
covered were their lips on account of the coming evil. 
Six days and uights passed, the wind, the flood, the 
storm overwhelmed. On the seventh day in its course 
was calmed the storm, and all the tempest which had 
destroyed like an earthquake was quieted. The flood 
he caused to dry; the wind and the deluge ended. I 
beheld the to*sing of the sea, and mankind all turned 
to corruption. Like reeds the corpses floated, I 
opened the window, and the light broke over my face; 
it passed. I sat down and wept; over my face flowed 
my tears. I saw the shore at the edge of the sea; for 
twelve measures the land rose. To the country of 



SO THE VOICE OF REASON 

INizir went the ship; to pass over it was not able. The 
first day and the second day the mountain of Nizir the 
same; the third day and the fourth day the mountain 
of Nizir the same; the fifth and the sixth the mountain 
of Nizir the same. In the course of the seventh day 
I sent out a dove, and it left. The dove went to and 
■fro, and a resting-place it not did find, and it returned. 
I sent forth a raven, and it left. The raven went, and 
the corpses on the waters it saw, and it did eat. It 
swam and wandered away, and returned not. 1 sent 
the animals forth to the four winds. I poured out a 
libation. I built an altar on the peak of the mountain. 
Seven jugs of wine 1 took, at the bottom I placed reeds, 
pines and spices. The gods collected to the burning; 
over the sacrifice they gathered." 

That the Pentateuch was written after the Hebrews 
settled in the land of Canaan has been admitted by all 
•biblical scholars, and that the Hebrews are the offspring 
of the Chaldeans admits of no question, and the Chal- 
dean antedates the Hebrews every student of ancient 
history must admit; therefore I have, not the slightest 
doubt that the story of the Creation and of the sup- 
posed flood, as narrated in the Bible, has been copied 
from the Chaldean legends, yet the Jews and Christians 
believe that the Bible is the word of God, and set aside 
the Chaldean story as false, but I am satisfied with the 
proof I have presented, and leave this controversy to 
any fair-minded, candid person to decide whether the 
Uible is of divine origin or not. 



MOSES AND THE BIBLE 
MIRACLES. 



Some people say that the age of miracles is past. It 
is true that supernaturalism is dying a natural death, 
but the age of genuine miracles has just begun. Let 
us examine the miracles of the nineteenth century, and 
see how they compare with those of the Bible. 

The Bible cosmologist makes our earth the centre of 
the universe. The sun and the moon he describes as 
two great lights — the greater light to rule by day and 
the lesser light to rule by night; the stars shining as 
mere bits promiscuously scattered throughout the heav- 
ens for the purpose of ornamentation. 

The miraculous telescope of the nineteenth century 
reveals that these insignificant shining bits called the 
stars are suns, many of them larger than the one that 
is the centre of our tiny system, and that instead of 
being fixed in space, as has been thought, they are 
whirling in gigantic orbits about a common centre. 
This telescope reveals the fact that the sun is only a 
star, like all the re3t, circling on with its attendant 
satellites. It shows that our giant sun is no different 
from myriad other suns, and not even so large as some 
of them. This telescope proves that our sun is a mere 
insignificant spark of matter is an infinite show of 
sparks. With this telescope we can enter into abysmal 
vistas which human eye never penetrated before. This 



82 THE VOICE OF REASON 

telescope brings light from a distance millions of mill- 
ions of miles — light which left its source two million 
years ago. This telescope carries us out into regions 
of space compared with which the span of our solar 
system is a mere point. Nor is this all. In looking 
beyond the few thousand stars that are visible to the 
naked eye, we can see series after series of more 
distant stars, marshalled in galaxies of millions. But 
beyond this there is a vast galaxy of suns held to one 
centre, revolving in space. But even here this mar- 
velous telescope does not pause; far out beyond the 
confines of these gigantic orbs — so far that the awful 
span of our own system might serve as a mere unit of 
measure — are revealed other systems, other universes 
like ourcwn, each composed of myriads of suns, clus- 
tered like a galaxy into systems which are mere specks 
of matter in an infinite ocean of space. So distant are 
these universes from our own that their light reaches 
ours only as a dim nebulous glow. The nearest fixed 
star is so remote that its light, traveling at the rate of 
180,000 miles a second, requires three and one-half 
years to reach our planet; yet these nebulae are much 
more distant from us than the nearest fixed star. 
What a grand and awe-inspiring view does this mar- 
velous telescope reveal! 

The spectroscope is an instrument which not only 
reveals the constitution of the sun, stars, comets and 
nebulae, but the condition of matter of which these 
bodies are composed. Spectroscopic observations of 
the motions of the stars in the line of sight yield results, 
of the highest importance. By a single observation it 
can be determined whether the star is approaching or 
receding. By the use of the photographic plate, in 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 83 

connection with the spectroscope, extremely binary 
systems have been discovered. 

Instantaneous photography is another miracle of the 
nineteenth century. With improvements in lenses, 
plates and developers, the speed of photography has 
been increased to such an extent as to produce a dis- 
tinct image in 1-10,000 of a second. This renders it 
possible to catch images in their successive positions. 
By reversing the process these images are reproduced 
in such rapid succession as to give the pictures all the 
movements of life, without any apparent break in con- 
tinuity. The kinetoscope makes these appear realities 
which move with life like precision. 

Photography has proved itself to be of incalculable 
value to other sciences. In surgery it is used for differ- 
entiating tissues. It is used for detecting stains that 
are invisible to the eye. It is a faithful recorder of 
physical phenomena, and has been made by Roentgen, 
in connection with the X-ray, to show interior portions 
of the body, and other disclosures of a startling nature. 
In addition to these, photography has been used for 
grasping celestial objects be\ond the reach of the eye 
and telescope, for mapping the heavens, measuring and 
recording spectra, showing the structure of the sun, 
revealing the extent of nebulae, picturing comets, and 
making records of eclipses and other phenomena. It 
has also revealed things beyond the power of vision 
and the microscope. 

The so-called X ray is a miracle by which the interior 
of opaque objects is made visible to human eyes. One 
has only to look into a tube containing a screen of cer- 
tain composition and directing it towards a peculiar 
electrical apparatus, to acquire clairvoyant vision more 



84 THE VOICE OF REASON 

wonderful than the discredited second sight of the 
medium. Coins within a purse, nails driven into wood, 
spectacles within a leather case, become clearly visible 
when subjected to the influence of this magic tube, 
and when a human hand is held before this Lube its 
bones stand revealed in wierd simplicity, as if the 
living, palpitating flesh about them were but the 
shadowy substance of a ghost. Not only can the human 
eye see these astounding revelations, but the impartial 
evidence of inanimate chemicals can be brought for- 
ward to prove that the mind harbored no illusion; the 
photographic film records the things that the eye might 
see. . 

To enumerate all the miracles of the nineteenth 
century would fill a book a hundred times larger than 
the BiUe, therefore I will be as brief as possible, and 
only mention a few of them. The most elusive steed 
of Nature's forces has been harnessed and put to the 
permanent service of man. This steed is made the 
swift messenger, and thought flashes in submarine 
depths around the world faster than the wind. 

The Hoe octuple printing-pres-s is one of the greatest 
miracles of the nineteenth century. This press folds 
and counts 96,000 complete eight-page papers per 
hour. It has eight plate or impression cylinders, with 
eight stereotype plates, or pages, and the paper of 
double width is fed from four independent rolls,seventy- 
flve inches wide, one side being printed upon as the 
paper passes over the set of stereotype pages on one 
cylinder, and the other side being, printed upon as it 
passes over the plates of another cylinder. The paper 
rushes through the cylinders at a speed of thirty-two 
and one half miles an hour, the several sheets being 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 85 

separated, folded and passed out of the press with accu- 
racy and precision, and the entire work is automatically 
performed. 

The Linotype machine is another miracle of the 
nineteenth century. This machine, by means of a 
key-board, sets individual letters and does itb own 
justification. When a line of moulds are set up the 
casting of metal against their faces is automatically done, 
and a slug of one complete line of text results. This 
machine moulds and sets its own type, a whole line at 
a time, and does the work of four compositors. 

The miracles of the nineteen h century made their 
appearance so rapidly that people look upon them with 
indifference, and the most wonderful developments are 
taken as a matter of course; but the student of Nature 
is filled with emotion at the achievements of mankind. 
He cannot, without such emotions, contemplate the 
insignificant feed-wire of a trolley-line; he cannot, 
without these feelings, contemplate the electric motors' 
drawing power, in proportion to the work they have to 
do, all regulated by the automatic government, counter 
electro-motive force; he cannot, without emotion, see 
the gigantic] ocean steamer, with every refinement of 
electrical and mechanical art, all working perfectly on 
their never quiet, never level, platforms. 

It is so easy to lose sight of the marvelous, when 
once familiar with it, that we usually fail to give the 
full value of positive appreciation to the great things of 
this great age. Within the nineteenth century came 
the sewing machine, the chemical telegraph, the print- 
ing telegraph, the self-binding reaper and harvester, 
the Corliss engine, the collodion and dry processes in 
photography, the Ruponkorff coil, the time-lock for 



86 THE VOICE OF REASON 

safes, the electric fire-alarm, the duplex telegraph, the 
four motioned feed for the sewing machine, the hot air 
engine, the Atlantic cable, the circular knitting-ma- 
chine, the dynamo electric-generator, the Bessemer 
process of making steel. 

Reaping, mowing, raking, harvesting, plowing and 
cultivating are now executed by machinery; the Cor- 
liss valve motion and the compounding of cylinders 
leading to more perfect expansion and a larger range 
of great economy, so that one-tenth the fuel will do the 
work as formerly. 

Ice was formerly harvested entirely from natural 
sources; now it is made artificially in great quantities, 
and every first-class ocean steamer can make its own 
ice and cool its own refrigerators. 

Compressed air rock drills, the tempering of steel 
wire and springs by electricity; the process of making 
water gas; the telephone has established the close kin- 
ship of one great talkative family in constant inter- 
course, the tiny wire, sentient and responsive to the 
familiar voice, transmitting the message with tone and 
accent unchanged by the thousands of miles of dis- 
tance between; the arc light, which turned night into 
day and made photography by electric light possible. 

The phonograph is^another miracle of the nineteenth 
century. It reproduces human speech, and all sounds, 
with startling fidelity. What stores of interesting and 
instructive knowledge would be in our possession if 
this miraculous instrument had appeared in the ages of 
the past, and its records had been preserved. The 
voices of the great orators of past ages could be brought 
to life again, and listened to with much pleasure; even 
the voice of Jehovah, telling Moses how to make 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 87 

ointment, might have been recorded and reproduced, 
and we could hear the real voice of God. 

The microscope has revealed the invisible world and 
unfolded the infinite of microcosm, which has yielded 
its fruitful and potent knowledge of bacteria and cell 
growth. 

Jesus is supposed to have turned water into wine, 
but the nineteenth centu;y miracle worker has turned 
gases into fluids and fluids into solids, and air into a 
liquified form. According to the Bible version our 
earth is about six thousand years old, but the holy men 
of the nineteenth century have penetrated into the 
sceret recesses of the earth, and have possessed them- 
selves of her family record, and found on its pages 
sixty millions of years' existence. 

We will now examine the miracles of the Bible, and 
see how they compare with those of the nineteenth 
century. 

The greatest miracle performed by Moses was when 
the Ethiopians invaded Egypt. He was placed at the 
head of the Egyptian army, and marched against the 
invaders. The district through which he was marching 
was infested with noxious reptiles. To overcome this 
difficulty he pressed a squadron of ibises, and let them 
fly at the serpents, and thus speedily cleared his way. 
By this extraordinary stratagem he came unexpectedly 
upon the enemy and gained a decisive victory. Jeal- 
ousy and haired, the usual attendants on greatness, 
endangered his life and with difficulty he made his es- 
cape into the desert. A lonely exile, he flies beyond 
the reach of the Egyptian power to the tents of the 
nomadic tribes which lived on the borders of Palestine 
and Arabia. Here, for forty years he held the humble 



88 THE VOICE OF REASON 

occupation of a shepherd, allied in marriage with the 
hospitable race that had received him. He sees his 
children rising around him, and seems to live in per- 
fect contentment; but, all of a sudden, when eighty 
years old, when the life of ambition is usually burnt 
out and active spirit of adventure subsided, he leaves 
his family and all that is dear to him, and, unattended r 
appears again in Egypt, and boldly undertakes the ex- 
traordinary enterprise of delivering his people from 
slavery, and establishing them as an independent com- 
monwealth. This was the most gigantic undertaking 
ever recorded in history. 

Moses had a very difficult task before him. He had 
a very peculiar people to deal with, people who were 
scattered through the whole land of Egypt, their cour- 
age broken by long and intermitted slavery. Habitu- 
ated to Egyptian superstitions, he had to induce them 
to throw off the yoke of their tyrannical masters, and 
follow him in search of a remote land only known by 
traditions many centuries old as the residence of their 
forefathers. The very people that Moses was about to 
deliver from slavery were the cause of his hasty flight 
from Egypt. One day Moses saw an Egyptian task- 
master cruelly abuse a Hebrew. Overcome with emo- 
tion at the sight before him, he killed the cruel task- 
master. The next day, while walking among his peo- 
ple, he saw two Hebrews fighting, so he admonished 
them, and one of the co nbatants was so enraged at 
the interference of Moses that he went and informed 
what he did on the previous day. This shows the in- 
gratitude humanity is capable of. There is no doubt 
that Moses remembered the abuse he received from 
the people whom he was about to release from 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 89 

bondage, yet this di«l not deter him from his noble 
mission. 

History records that most of the great benefactors- 
of mankind have been abused by the very people 
whom they have tried to benefit, yet these benefactors- 
of mankind have never faltered in their noble mis- 
sions. It is the feeling that these great men have for 
their fellow-men which urges them on with their noble 
work. And it was the fire of patriotism, kindled in the 
heart of Moses, that urged him on to this grand and 
noble undertaking. 

As regards the miracles which Moses performed be- 
fore the king of Egypt, they can easily be discounted 
by the Hindoo juggler. A well-known gentleman, 
traveling in India for the purpose of investigating the 
political life and social customs of that country, wit- 
nessed a performance by a Hindoo juggler that far 
surpassed the miracles performed by Moses before the 
king of Egypt. 

In company with two fellow-travelers, and many of 
the native dignitaries and a hundred other invited 
guests, who were gathered in an open court to see the 
performance, appeared the miracle-worker, clad in white 
linen. The voluminous folds of his long robe were 
fantastically looped and confined at the knee upon one 
side, thus revealing his brown ankles and white san- 
dalled feet. His countenance was serious; his manner 
grave; his whole appearance was singular and impos- 
ing, so as to command respect and attention. He. 
entered the open square with slow and dignified step, 
bearing in his right hand the indispensable divining 
rod. He threw a piece of carpet upon the ground near 
his feet, and, raising the divining rod in his right hand , 



DO THE VOICE OF REASON 

iie lifted his face toward the blue arch of the sky, mut- 
tering some unintelligible gibberish, every eye in breath- 
less interest being fixed upon the miracle-worker. He 
thus stood in the attitude of prayer, when there was a 
perceptible motion beneath the carpet at his feet. It 
appeared to be raised some few inches from the 
ground, assuming the distinct lines of a human figure. 
The magician now ceased to invoke invisible powers, 
and turned his attention to the object he had conjured 
lying motionless beneath the carpet, or mat. He ad- 
dressed the phantom as though holding converse with 
a visible intelligence, commanding it to" come forth and 
show itself to the multitude. Immediately the carpet 
was cast aside, and a youth of about twenty years of 
age, and of fair appearance, and curiously costumed, 
not unlike the magician himself, rose in their midst, 
with pallid countenance,, and eyes fixed in an expres- 
sion of dreamy wonder upon the face of the conjurer. 
He paid not the least attention to his surroundings, 
although evoked from the shadow-world of spirits, by 
the science % of the magi, into a new and strange theatre 
of action. 

Again he of the land of sun and mystery raised his 
magical wand, and there appeared a flight of stairs, 
running upward beyond their mortal vision into those 
aerial realms. He now commanded the youth to as- 
cend these stairs, and immediately he commenced 
mounting upward until he, also, disappeared from 
their sight. Now a strange condition of things ap- 
peared upon the face of Nature about them; clouds 
gathered in portentious darkness over the sun, a mourn- 
ful wind stirred the dried grasses and bent the tall 
. trees, while the forked glare of the red lightning was 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 91 

followed by the crash and roar of the heavenly artil- 
lery. Amidst this grand and awful display of the 
aroused forces of Nature the magician stood unmoved, 
with calmly uplifted face and rod pointing to the sky. 
'They followed his example, actuated by a secret com- 
pulsion of awe, not unmixed with fear. 

As unexpectedly as the storm appeared, the clouds 
departed; the sky assumed the cheerful aspect of pleas- 
ant sunshine: but there broke upon the ears not the 
voice of thunder now, but the high and angry tones of 
■quarrelling men, followed by a challenge to mortal 
combat. They now heard for awhile the clash of wea- 
pons; then cried one of the combatants, "1 have you 
at last. I will cut you to pieces, and deliver your body 
to the dogs." 

"Mercy, oh mercy," cried the vanquished, in the 
most heartrending tones of supplication, but the merci- 
less victor proceeded to put into execution his threat 
to his fallen foe. Now he responded savagely, "Here 
goes your legs." 

This announcement was followed by howls of misery 
that caused their blood to chill with horror, when 
•down came the legs hewn from the trunk. Dripping 
with gore, they fell into their midst. 

"Now the arms," he fiercely cried again, "for, by 
Allah, thou shouldst suffer for invading my domain." 

Again this announcement brought forth moans and 
•cries of misery ere the dismembered arms were flung 
over the stairway, and fell upon the ground. The de- 
moniacal work of him who committed the dark deeds 
above was soon accomplished by casting upon the earth 
the bloody head, followed by the trunk, which tumbled 
over the stairway and rolled to the magician's feet. 



92 THE VOICE OF REASON 

After this, he gathered together the dismembered parts* 
and placed them carefully together again beneath the 
carpet. For a few minutes he stood, with bowed head, 
in contemplative silence, then he waved his wand over- 
the concealed and mutilated body, commanding the- 
parts to unite and the youth to reappear.^ Once more 
a perceptible movement beneath the carpet, followed 
by such complete agitation of the fabric which warned 
them that the mighty energies of the magician's will 
were at work. 

"Come forth," he cried, -<0, son of the land of shad- 
ows." Instantly the carpet was cast aside, and the^ 
young man, with the calm demeanor of his first appear- 
ance and clad in precisely the same unruffled and un- 
soiled garment of snowy white linen, stood before the- 
juggler. 

"Thou hast served my purpose well; away, then, to 
thy native element." He waved his hand, and where- 
he stood but a moment before moved only the li^ht 
and odorous air. The magician bowed, picked up the- 
carpet, and passed out of sight through the divided 
circle of the crowd of woudering spectators. 

Many books have been written concerning the Red 
Sea miracle, some explaining one thing, some another. 
For years the faithful accepted it as a miracle of the 
most marvelous, mysterious sort, with entire confidence. 
The skeptical denied it altogether, both as to manner 
and effect. Latterly, however, there have been modi- 
fications on each side, archaeological investigations in. 
Egypt having verified so much^of the scriptural story 
that its substantial accuracy is generally admitted. An 
examination of the various routes, over one or other of 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 93 

which the fleeing Hebrews took their way, has demon- 
strated the fact that, in many places, they could have 
managed a crossing of the sea under favorable natural 
conditions. As a result of this, Christians now believe 
that the escape through the waters was by miraculous 
intervention from God, working through natural inter- 
mediate causes; that there was no providential in- 
tervention in the crossing of the Hebrews of the Red 
Sea; showing that, in the time of the exodus, the la- 
goons of the Suez gulf extended further to the north, 
otherwise the eastern borders of Egypt were much the 
same as now, the Egyptian kings of that period spent 
a part of their time at Zoan the other at Goshen. 
The former was not, and it was at Zoan. therefore, 
that Moses held his conversation with Pharoah. The 
Hebrews marching from Goshen brought them in two 
day's journey to Etham. This place was beyond the 
eastern end of Tumi, and it is at this place that the 
Arabian desert begins. After marching over the 
heights ef Guiss they turned back and moved toward 
Suez, halting at Arrood; from Arrood to the sea is four 
hours' journey. There is a large plain, nearly ten 
miles square, where the Hebrews encamped. 

Major- General Tullock, who was making govern- 
mental surveys for Great Britain in that part of Egypt 
where the Hebrews accomplished their famous journey, 
and, while engaged in surveying the borders of Lake 
Menzahleh, on the Red Sea, says on one occasion a 
sudden and violent wind arose, the force of which was 
so prodigious as to carry everything before it, includ- 
ing the water of the lake. In a few hours the whole 
body of water had been abducted, and nothing remained 
save vessels, mud, sand — and the major-general; the 



94 THE VOICE OF REASON 

vessels moored in the lake were stranded high and dry 7 
with no water in sight. 

This is undoubtedly what occurred in the time of 
Moses. This miracle which Major- General Tulloch had 
witnessed, gives a new interest to the famous history 
wherein is set forth the triumphant flight of the He- 
brews dry-shod through the waters, whose returning 
flood overwhelmed the Egyptians. Before the dredg- 
ing of the canal, tow-places in the gulf could be forded 
at low water, one at the north of Suez two-thirds of a 
mile wide, the other south and made up of shoals and 
a sand-bar, that at low tide are bare except for a narrow 
channel easily forded. Until the canal was opened the 
Arabs constantly crossed on their donkeys. 

The former passage was where Bonaparte and his- 
suite were near drowning in the advancing tide in 1799, 
and this is the place where the Egyptians met their 
fate. The latter passage begins opposite Suez and runs 
almost due southeast. On the western side of the 
channel it is covered for a mile and a half at high tide 
and cannot be forded. At low tide the surface of the 
water is no more than that of a channel two hundred 
yards in width, which is easily forded opposite Suez and 
is only from two and a half to four feet in depth. 

The first of these two passages, while allowing the 
Israelites to cross, would not have furnished the neces- 
sary water for the drowning of the Egyptians, yet the 
second passage shows the exact route followed by the 
Hebrews in their flight from the Egyptians. There the 
distance through the waters is three miles, but at low 
tide it may be forded, as most of the way there are 
but a few feet of water, while on the other hand the 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 95 

advancing tide would overwhelm whomsoever it should 
find in its path. 

The Bible tells us that the Lord caused the sea to ga 
back by a strong east wind all that night and made the 
sea dry land, and the waters were divided. This may 
safely be interpreted as a northeast wind, since the He- 
brews had words only for the four points of the com- 
pass. The rise and fall of the tide here is from five and 
a half to six feet, and it is singularly effected in this ebb 
and flow by the wind. 

Wellsted states that the rise and fall of the tides at 
Suez are more influenced by the wind than anywhere 
else in the Arabian Gulf. He declares that when a 
long continued northeast wind is followed by one from 
the southeast, the water suddenly rises more than six 
feet. Many well-known travelers assert that the gulf 
can be crossed over when a severe northwest wind has 
been blowing for a long time. 

M. DeLesseps stated that he, himself, had seen the 
north end of the sea sometimes nearly dry in certain 
places; and, on the other hand, sometimes blown a longp 
way beyond its ordinary line toward the bitter lakes. 
These storms occur in this region at intervals, and there 
is no doubt that in such a storm the Hebrews crossed 
the Ked Sea. To the superstitious all natural law ap- 
pears supernatural. 

Universes, and the sentient beings which people 
them, came into being through natural law and will 
pass out of existence by the same process. The super- 
natural only exists in the mind of the ignorant and su- 
perstitious, but the natural law is eternal and im- 
mutable. 



96 THE VOICE OF 11EASON 

Moses, on the instant of the deliverance of his people 
from the Egyptian oppressors, composed the triumph- 
ant hymn which was chanted to the music of the tim- 
brel. This memorial hymn excites the same emotions 
of awe and piety in every human heart which it did so 
many ages past in those of the triumphant children of 
Israel, and it is no wonder that those ignorant slaves 
thought their deliverance was due to divine interposi- 
tion. Thus free and triumphant the whole people of 
Israel set forth upon their pilgrimage toward the prom- 
ised land. At present a great desert lays before them, 
but Moses leads them on, and at last they get into the 
wilderness. By this time their provisions failed and 
the dreadful prospect of perishing by famine arose be- 
fore their eyes. They began to look back to Egypt 
where, at least, they never wanted for food. All that 
Moses did for them is forgotten ; murmurs of discontent 
spread through the camp; the whole people break out 
into open remonstrance, but Moses does not forsake 
them. He, in the name of the God of Abraham, prom- 
ised an immediate supply of food. 

In the spring of the year quails, migrating birds, pass 
in large flocks over the Arabian peninsula. They are 
very heavy on the wing and their line of flight depends 
much on the direction of the wind. A cloud of these 
were suddenly wafted over the camp and fell around 
the Hebrews in immense numbers; and when they had 
satisfied their appetite with quail, they wished for a 
change of diet. Moses told them that they should have 
it provided they got up early in the morning to collect 
it. The morning arrived and the people beLeld the 
ground covered with manna. This manna is a natural 
production in this district. It is distilled from the 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 97 

thorns of the tamarisk. In the month of June it is still 
collected by the Arabs before sunrise, when it is coag- 
ulated, but it dissolves as soon as the sun shines on it. 

Moses tells his people that they should collect only 
-enough to last for one day. This was a wise and pru- 
dent precaution. He tells them to collect no more nor 
less than an oraer. This shows how much he had his 
people at heart. He knew that greed existed in human 
nature, and therefore made this provision so that they 
should fare alike. By careful study and diligent re- 
search we find that Moses had his plan all mapped out 
before he started on his gigantic undertaking to deliver 
his people from slavery. It seems that the forty years 
that separated him from his people were not spent in 
idleness. He explored the country through which ^e 
was to lead his people, and it seems that he had staked 
•out every point of vantage. When the Israelites 
reached the well of Marah they were famishing with 
thirsty and as they rushed to slake their burning lips in 
the stream they found it to be eo bitter that it could not 
be drunk. The spring was sweetened by the branch of 
a tree which Moses cast into it. This shrub grows in 
the neighborhood where the well of Marah is situated. 

Moses knew that in order to have command over 
his people he had to impress them with his miraculous 
power and to show them how he could overcome great 
obstacles. He knew how to fix the restless spirit of the 
Hebrews and captivate their credulity by ranging his 
so-called authority under the standard of the divinity 
lie pretended to have seen. He gave these ignorant 
slaves to understand that God had commissioned him 
to be their leader, and by his miraculous power showed 
them that he was the accredited envoy of Jehovah. 



98 THE VOICE OF REASON 

Moses knew that manna existed in the very district 
through which he was to lead his people. He also 
knew that the manna would dissolve as soon as the sun 
shone on it, and therefore told them to get up early in 
the morning to collect it. That he was well acquainted 
with that country shows that ail these places were not 
far distant from his father-in-law. After Moses had 
sweetened the well of Marah, his people had more 
confidence in him. "When the Amalekites determined 
to exterminate these invaders of their country Moses 
delegated the military command to Joshua. He, with 
his brother Aaron, and Hur, took his station on an 
eminence. There, in sight of the whole army, he 
raised his hands in supplication to heaven. The He- 
brews, encouraged by their trust in divine protection, 
fought manfully, though the attack was fierce and ob- 
stinate. The strength of Moses failed, and the He- 
brews beheld with alarm and trepidation his arms 
hanging languidly down. At this spectacle their 
courage gave way. His companions, observing this, 
placed him on a stone and supported his hands on each 
side. This piece of strategy revived the valor of the 
Hebrews, and they gained a decisive victory. This 
shows the confidence they had in their leader. 

After this grand victory Moses proceeded to organize 
his people under a regular and effective discipline. 
Hitherto the whole burden of the religious and civil 
affairs had rested on himself; he had been the sole 
leader, judge and interpreter of the divine will. He 
now withdraws into the more remote sacred character, 
leaving the command and daily affairs to be adminis- 
tered by officers appointed in regular subordination 
over the sub-divisions of the whole people. These 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 99' 

arrangements completed, he leads his people along the 
detiles of this elevated region till at length they come 
to the foot of the loftiest peak in the whole ridge, that 
of Sinai. Here, after the most solemn preparations, 
Moses delivered that singular constitution upon which 
is built the equity and justice of the world. 

Moses departed to the apparently inaccessible sum- 
mit of the mountain, and returned bringing a supposed 
message from his God. It asserts his dominion over 
the whole universe and proclaims the Israelites to be 
his chosen people. Moses enjoined the most solemn 
purifications. A line is drawn and fenced at the foot 
of the mountain, which, on pain of death, they are not 
to trespass. On the third day the whole people assem- 
ble in trembling expectation; the summit of the moun- 
tain appeared to be clothed in darkness, tremendous 
thunder and lightning, phenomena new to the shep- 
herds of Goshen, whose pastures had escaped the 
preternatural tempest in Egypt, burst forth, and the 
terrors were heightened by a wild sound like that of a 
trumpe';, mingling with and prolonging the terrific din 
of the elements. The trumpet peals still louder, and 
is supposed to be answered by a voice which summons 
Moses to the top of the mountain. He returns and 
earnestly enjoins the people not to break through the 
prescribed limits.- The reason why Moses returned 
and cautioned the people not to follow him was be- 
cause he feared that they might discover his confeder- 
ates and thereby spoil his game of duplicity. Im- 
mediately on his descent the mysterious voice utters 
ten precepts; these are the first principles of the whole 
law. These precepts, with the exception of two, are 
certainly a code of ethics good enough as a guide for 
the conduct of the whole human race. 
LofC. 



100 THE VOICE OF REASON 

The precautions of Moses to restrain the curiosity of 
the people were not necessary, for their fears were too 
highly excited. Instead of approaching the summit 
of the mountain, they retired in terror from the place 
where they were assembled. Moses claimed to have 
received his law from Jehovah; the Egyptians believed 
their laws to have been communicated to Menvis by 
Hermes; the Cretans held that Minos received his laws 
from Zeus; the Lacedaemonians that Lycurrgas re- 
ceived his laws from Apollo; and according to the 
Getee Zamalxis received his laws from the goddess 
Hestia. Zoroaster came forward in the broad plain of 
the middle Oxus and instilled into the minds of his 
countrymen the doctrines and precepts of a new reli- 
gion; he claimed divine inspiration, and professed to 
hold from time to time direct conversation with the 
Supreme Being. He delivered his revelations in a 
mystical form, and obtained their general acceptance 
as divine by the Bactrian people. His religion gradu- 
ally spread from Bactra of the lofty banner to all the 
numerous tribes of the Iranians, until at last it became 
the established religion of the mighty empire of Persia, 
which, in the middle of the sixth century before the 
■Christian era, established itself on the ruins of the 
Assyrian and Babylonian kingdoms, and shortly after- 
wards overran and subdued the ancient monarchy of 
the Pharaohs. In Persia it maintained its great power, 
despite the shocks of Grecian and Parthian conquests, 
until Mohammedan intolerance drove it out at the 
point of the sword, and forced it to seek a refuge fur- 
ther east in the peninsula of Hindustan, where it still 
continues to flourish. 

Mohammed claimed that the Koran was revealed to 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 101 

him by the angel Gabriel. Jews and Christians claim 
that Mohammed was an impostor, yet he has more 
followers than Moses and Jesus have. All the founders 
of religions claimed to have held a divine commission, 
and Moses is no exception to this rule. The followers 
of those founders are as sure that this is a fact as the 
Jews and Christians are in regard to Moses. 

Moses, having organized his people and instructed 
them in the first principles of the law, proceeded to 
build a tabernacle. The whole nation is called upon to 
contribute to its construction and ornamentation. The 
riches which they brought from Egypt, and the arts 
that some of them had learned, came now into request. 
From all quarters offerings poured in. At last a sump- 
tuous pavilion rose in the midst of the coarse and lowly 
tents of the people. This tabernacle was situated in 
the high district of Mount Sinai, which extended about 
thirty miles in diameter. This district was not bare of 
vegetation, as streams of water flowed in the valleys. 
This shows how wise Moses was in the selection of 
this spot for the temporary government and instruction 
of his people. 

It must have been a grand sight to behold such ac- 
tivity in the midst of the wilderness. Only thirteen 
months have elapsed since the departure from Egypt, 
yet in this time the nation assumed the appearance of a 
regular army. Military order and discipline were es- 
tablished; each tribe marched in succession under its 
own leaders, with its banners displayed, and took up 
its position in the appointed quarter of the camp, and 
when the trumpets sounded each tribe took its position 
in regular order. Thus much Moses accomplished in a 
short time. 



102 THE VOICE OF REASON 

History has no parallel of such achievement. The 
Hebrews, thus already furnished with their code of 
laws, irresistible both in their numbers and the prom- 
ised assistance of their God, marched onward to take 
possession of the fruitful land which had been promised 
as the reward of their toils. Thus far, Moses was well 
acquainted with the part of the country through which 
he was leading his people; but now a difficulty pre- 
sented itself before him, he knew not which way to 
turn; so he secured the assistance of his brother-in- 
law Hohab, who, at the head of his clan, had been ac- 
customed to traverse the desert, and knew intimately 
the bearings of the country, the usual resting-places, 
the water-springs, and the character and habits of the 
wandering tribes. At length the nation arrived on the 
southern frontier of the promised land. Their wander- 
ings were now drawn to an end, and they were to reap 
the reward of all their toil and suffering. Moses sent 
out spies to make observations. They returned and 
made their report that the nations they are about to 
confront are of gigantic stature. This report over- 
whelmed the Hebrews with fear; their long slavery had 
debased their minds; the confidence in the divine pro- 
tection gave way at once before their sense of physical 
inferiority and the total deficiency of moral courage. 
Back to Egypt is the general cry. 

With bitter disappointment, Moses perceived that a 
people accustomed to the luxuries of a relaxing climate 
and inured to slavery from their birth are not the ma- 
terials from which he could construct a bold, conquer- 
ing and independent nation, but his great mind was 
equal to the occasion; instantaneously he formed his 
decision — he abandoned the plan of immediate con- 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. lt>3 

quest. The people are commanded, on the authority 
of God, to retreat from the borders of the promised 
laud. They are not to return to Egypt, but they are 
commanded to wander for a period of forty years in the 
wilderness. This episode touches the heart with un_ 
speakable emotion: to see a man like Moses, who has 
done so much for his people, and with his great desire, 
pride and satisfaction of seeing his people happily es- 
tablished in the land of Canaan, obliged to relinquish 
that which was nearest and dearest to his heart! 

At the lapse of forty years, the generation which 
Moses had brought out of Egypt had already sunk into 
their graves, and a new generation had taken their 
place, traiDed to the bold and hardy habits of the wil- 
derness. The free air of the desert had invigorated 
their frames and the canker of slavery had worn out of 
their minds, and in these hardy people of the desert 
did Moses find the material wherewith to conquer the 
promised land. He proceeded once more toward the 
frontier of Palestine, but many formidable difficulties 
opposed his penetrating into Canaan. The territory 
that he was to pass through was inhabited with fierce 
and warlike tribes not likely to abandon their native 
plains without obstinate resistance, but Moses had 
trained this new generation not to fear; he gave the 
order to march forward, and forward they went. At 
last they arrived at the frontier of the tribes of Midian. 
The people of this district were terror-stricken with 
fear, and in the utmost of apprehension they looked 
about for someone who might appeal to their gods in 
their behalf. 

There lived near the river Euphrates a religious man 
whose reputation for sanctity extended through all the 



104 THE VOICE OF REASON 

tribes between that river and the Jordan. This holy- 
man's name was Balaam. He reluctantly consented to- 
intercede for them, but when he cast his eyes below the 
mountain and saw the countless multitudes of the tents- 
of the Hebrews covering the whole plain to an immense 
distance, he was overcome with awe at the spectacle:, 
and beholding the beautiful order in which the tents of 
the Hebrews were arrayed: on one side the mighty and 
regular army of Israel, on the other the few and scat- 
tered troops of some of the native tribes, and knowing 
that God was always on the side of the stronger, he told 
the king that his gods were no good, that the God of 
the invaders was the real God and that it was no use to* 
fight against him. After the first battle the king found 
that the words that Balaam had spoken were true. 

The God of the Bible is not the only god who has- 
performed miracles. We find that Dther gods are pos- 
sessed with the same power. Xerxes, King of Persia,, 
was no respecter of gods, and when he invaded Greece 
he made it his business to pillage the temples. He sent 
his army to plunder the Temple of Delphos, in which 
there were immense treasures, being resolved to treat 
Apollo with no more favor than the other gods whose 
temples he had pillaged; but no sooner had his army 
advanced near the Temple of Minerva than the air 
suddenly grew dark and a violent tempest arose, ac- 
companied with impetuous winds, thunder and light- 
ning, and two rocks being detached from the mountain 
fell upon the Persian troops and crushed the greatest 
part of them. This miracle forced the king to desist 
from his sacrilegious practice. 

Sethon, one of the kings of Egypt, instead of dis- 
charging the functions of a king was ambitious of those 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 105» 

of a priest. He caused himself to be consecrated High 
Priest of Vulcan, abandoning himself entirely to the 
service of his god and neglecting to defend his kingdom 
by force of arms. He paid no regard to military men,, 
as he had a firm persuasion that he would never have 
occasion for their assistance. He therefore did not 
gain their affections and even dispossessed them of the 
lands that his predecessors had given to them. But *>e 
was soon made sensible of their resentment in a war 
that broke out suddenly, and from which he delivered 
himself solely by a miraculous protection. 

The King of Arabia and Assyria entered Egypt with 
a numerous army. The Egyptian officers and soldiers 
refused to march against him. The High Priest of 
Vulcan was thus reduced to the greatest extremity, so 
that he had recourse to his god, who bade him not to 
despond but to march courageously against the enemy 
with the few soldiers he could raise. Sethon obeyed, 
and with a handful of men he marched to Pelusiam., 
where the enemy had pitched his camp. The night 
following, a great number of rats entered the enemy's 
camp and gnawed to pieces all their bow-strings and 
the thongs of their shields, which rendered them inca- 
pable of making the least defence. Being disarmed in 
this manner they were obliged to fly. Sethon, when he 
returned home, ordered a statue to be set up in the Tem- 
ple of Vulcan, holding in the right hand a rat with, 
these words inscribed thereon: u Let ihe man who be- 
holds, me learn to reverence the gods." 

All religions that have been believed since the human 
race began have been introduced by a belief in mira- 
cles. Miracles lie at the foundation of all religions 
which men have ever received as of divine origin, do 



10G THE VOICE OF REASON 

matter how degrading or repulsive to reason. This be- 
lief in miracles will give currency to any system how- 
ever absurd, and without it no system can be estab- 
lished in the minds of men. 

If a person were to claim to be a teacher sent from 
God, yet aspired to the performance of no miracles, and 
if he assumed to do nothing superior to the wisdom and 
ability of other men, such a person, though he might 
succeed in gaining proselytes to some particular view 
of a religion already believed, could never make men 
believe that he had a special commission from God to 
establish a new religion. The reason is, that he had no 
more ground than his fellows to support his claims as 
an agent of God; but if he could convince a single in- 
dividual that he had wrought a miracle, or that he had 
the power to do so, that moment his claims would be 
established as the commissioned agent from God, and 
these would be strong enough to certify his divine com- 
mission. The demand for miracles, as testing the di- 
vine presence and power, is common with all men. If 
a person desires to give to the world a religion he must 
work miracles in order to impress men with a belief 
that his religion is of divine origin. There have been 
many enthusiasts who believed that they were special 
agents of God, and they imposed on their fellow-men as 
being possessed with miraculous powers capable of 
working miracles. 

I have not the least doubt but that Moses was an im- 
postor. For the verification of this statement I will 
quote Exodus xxx. 22-38: 

"Moreover, the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 

"Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure 
myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 107 

halt so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and 
of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, 

"And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel 
of the sanctuary, and of olive oil an hin : 

"And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an 
ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it 
shall be an holy anointing oil. 

"And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congre- 
tion therewith, and the ark of the testimony, 

"And the table and all his vessels, and the candle- 
stick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, 

"And the altar of burnt-offering; with all his vessels, 
and the laver and his foot, 

"And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be 
most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. 

"And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and con- 
secrate them, that they may minister unto me in the 
priests' office. 

"And thou shalt speak unto the children of ^Israel, 
saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me 
throughout your generations. 

"Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured, neither 
shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of 
it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. 

"Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever 
putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off 
from his people. 

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Take unto thee 
sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these 
sweet spices, with pure frankincense: of each shall 
there be a like weight. 

"And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection 
after the art of the apothecary tempered together, pure 
and holy: 



108 THE VOICE OF REASON 

"And thou shall beat some of it very small, and put 
of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the con- 
gregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto 
you most holy. 

"And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye 
shall not make to yourselves according to the composi- 
tion thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord. 

"Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell 
thereto, shall even be cut off from his people." 

What rational being can believe that God dictated to 
Moses this absurd and nonsensical recipe? Who can 
believe that God told Moses to put blood on the tip of 
Aaron's right ear, and upon the thumb of his right 
hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot? What 
rational being can believe that God is a fashion pub- 
lisher, and spake unto Moses, saying, "Speak unto the 
children of Israel and bid them that they make fringes 
in the borders of their garments, and that they put 
upon the fringe of the border a ribbon of blue"? Who 
can believe that it makes any difference to God whether 
we wear hoopskirts or bicycle pants? The reason that 
Moses told the Hebrews to make this change in their 
garments was because he wished to give them employ- 
ment and thereby keep them out of mischief. 

The imposture practiced by Moses consisted in his 
ascribing all his own Tloings as emanating from God. 
But he was justified in this deception. Why? Because 
he had an ignorant people to deal with. Had he com- 
manded them to accept his laws on his own authority 
they would have rebelled against him, but as long as 
they thought that these commandments emanated from 
God they obeyed them ; he could not have forced his 
code of laws upon them in any other way. 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 1C9 

The intelligent will listen to reason, and are a law with- 
in themselves, and need not be deceived by a mythical 
God. They know that to lead an upright and virtuous 
life is beneficial, and that wickedness leads to destruc- 
tion. Nothing will so much impress the ignorant as 
supernaturalism. If it were not that the ignorant be- 
lieved that an invisible God is at all times watching 
them, and that he can see all their acts, and that there 
is no escape from his vigilance, and this invisible God 
will punish them for their evil deeds, crimes would be 
more rampant; and therefore Moses was obliged to 
have recourse to deception, and impress his people that 
it was God who commanded all these things and not 
Moses. 

The code of laws which Moses has given to his 
people, though some of them are not suitable for our 
present age, yet they are a marvel of construction. 
Slavery, universal in the ancient world, was recognized 
by the Mosaic institutions. But, of all the ancient 
lawgivers, Moses alone endeavored to mitigate its 
evils. His regulations always reminded the Hebrews 
that they themselves were formerly bondslaves in 
Egypt. The freeborn Hebrew might be reduced to 
slavery, either by his own consent, or in condemnation 
as an insolvent, or as a thief unable to make restitu- 
tion; in either case, he became free at the end of seven 
years' service. Although the master might inflict 
blows on his slave, yet he was amenable to justice if 
the slave died under his hands, or within two days, 
from the consequence of the beating; if maimed or 
mutilated, the slave recovered his freedom. The law 
went even further, and positively enjoined kindness 
and lenity. The law expressly says, Thou shalt not 



110 THE VOICE OF REASON 

rule over him with rigor. The Mosaic law secured 
this for the slave, as well as for the poor, the orphan, 
widow and the stranger. The Sabbath was to them a 
day of rest. On the three great festivals they partook 
of the banquets which were made on those occasions 
All that grew spontaneously during the sabbatical year 
belonged to them, in common with the poor. Besides 
these special provisions, injunctions perpetually occur 
in the Mosaic code which enforce kindness, compassion 
and charity, not merely toward the native poor, but also 
to the stranger. 

Such were the political divisions among the Hebrew 
people, but over all classes alike. The supreme and 
impartial law exercised vigilant superintendence; it 
took under its charge the morals, the health, as well 
as the persons and the property of the whole people; 
it entered into the domestic circle, and regulated all 
the reciprocal duties of parent and child, husband and 
wife, as well as of master and servant. 

Among the nomad tribes, the father was an arbitrary 
sovereign in his family, as under the Roman law, with 
the power of life and death. Moses, while he main- 
tained the dignity and salutary control, limited the 
abuse of the parental authority. From the earliest 
period, the child was under the protection of the law. 
The father had no power of disinheriting his sons; the 
firstborn received by law two portions, the rest shared 
equally. On the other hand, the Decalogue enforced 
obedience and respect to parents under the strongest 
sanctions. To strike or curse a parent was a capital 
offence. Though the power of life and death was not 
left to the caprice or passion of the parent, the incorri- 
gible son might be denounced before the elders of the 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. Ill 

city, and, if convicted, suffer death; but, in order for 
this to take place, both thft father and mother had to 
concur in the accusation. This was a most wise pre- 
caution, when polygamy, the fruitful source of domes- 
tic dissension and jealousy, prevailed. Although polyg- 
amy was permitted, yet the law insisted that each wife, 
or concubine, receive her full conjugal rights, and pre- 
vented even the most wealthy from establishing those 
vast harems which are fatal to the happiness and 
eventually to the population of the country. 

Moses secured the domestic happiness of his people, 
as far as the times permitted. He restrained the law- 
less and inordinate passions which overbear.the natu- 
ral tenderness of domestic instinct and the attachment 
between the sexes; he guarded the father from the 
disobedience of the son, the son from the capricious 
tyranny of the father; he secured the wife from being 
the victim of every savage fit of jealousy, while he 
sternly repressed the crime of conjugal infidelity. 

Moses proceeded with the same care and discretion 
to provide for the general health of the people; be 
regulated their diet, enforced cleanliness, took precau- 
tions against the most prevalent diseases. The health 
of the people was a chief if not the only object, of the 
distinction between clean and unclean beasts, and the 
prohibition against eating the blood of any animals. 
Some of the greatest physicians agree that the Mosaic 
dietary laws are good, and if more people would adhere 
to them there would be less sickness. There is not a 
people upon this earth who are as free from loathsome 
diseases as are the Jews. 

The flesh of the swine is admitted to be unwhole- 
some, and tends to produce cutaneous maladies. The 



112 THE VOICE OF REASON 

swine is not only unwholesome for food, but it is a dis- 
gusting animal; it is the scavenger of the towns. The 
prohibition of blood, besides its acknowledged unwhole- 
someness and in some cases fatal effects result from it, 
also points to the custom of some savage tribes, which, 
like the Abyssinians, who fed upon flesh torn warm from 
the animals and almost quivering with life. Moses 
not only interdicted this disgusting practice as whole- 
some, but also as promoting that ferocity of manners 
which it was the first object of Moses to discourage. 

Cleanliness, equally important to health, was main- 
tained by the injunction of frequent ablutions, particu- 
larly after touching a dead body, or anything which 
might possibly be putrid. The regulations concerning 
female disorders and the intercourse between the sexes. 
the provisions which seem minute and indelicate to 
modern ideas, were intended to correct unhealthy 
practices of the neighboring tribes. The language 
which was used in regard to sexual intercourse, though 
disgusting to our ears, yet he could not express him- 
self in any other way, because he had an ignorant peo- 
'ple to deal with. Leprosy was the dreadful scourge 
which excited the greatest apprehension. The nature 
of this loathsome disease in its worst stage, the whole 
flesh rotted, the extremities dropped off, till at last 
mortification ensued and put an end to the sufferings 
of the miserable outcast. As this disease was highly 
infectious, the unhappy victim was immediately 
shunned and looked upon with universal abhorrence. 
The strict quarantine established by Moses provided 
for the security of the community, not without merci. 
iul regard to the sufferer. The inspection of the in- 
jected was committed to the Levites. The symptoms 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 113 

of the two kinds of disorder accurately pointed out and 
the period of seclusion defined, while those who were 
really cured were readmitted into the community. 
Clothes, and even houses, which might contain the in- 
fection, were destroyed without scruple. 

In all rude and barbarous tribes human life is of 
«heap account. Blood is shed on the least provocation. 
The Mosaic penal law enforced the highest respect for 
human life. Murder was punished with death. Strik- 
ing a father was a capital crime. It is true that the 
law demanded blood for blood, but it transferred the 
exaction of the penalty from private revenge to the 
judicial authority. Moses, in order to prevent the 
people from taking the law into their own hands, 
appointed certain cities of refuge, conveniently situ- 
ated. If the homicide could escape to one of these he 
was safe till a judicial investigation took place. If the 
crime was deliberate murder he was surrendered to the 
gaol; if justifiable or accidental homicide, he was 
bound to reside within the sanctuary for a certain 
period. Should he leave it and expose himself to the 
revenge of his pursuers, he did so at his own peril. 
Though the law was rigorous with regard to human 
life, yet against theft it was very lenient, the punish- 
ment for the latter crime being restitution. 

Here personal slavery was a direct advantage, as it 
empowered the law to exact the proper punishment 
without touching the life. In this case no man was so 
poor that he could not make restitution, because the 
labor of a slave was of higher value than his mainten- 
ance. Moses constantly tried to mitigate the savage 
usages of a barbarous people, and endeavored to soften 
the ferocity of manners and to promote gentleness and 



114 THE VOICE OF REASON 

humanity, and kindness to domestic animals. He pro- 
hibited the employment of beasts of unequal strength, 
the ox and the ass, on the same labor. The provisions 
for the poor were gentle and considerate. The glean- 
ings of every harvest field were left to the fatherless and 
widow; the owner could not go over it a second time. 
The heme of the poor man was sacred. His garment, 
if pledged, was to be restored at nightfall. Even to 
wards the stranger oppression was forbidden, and the 
Hebrews were always reminded that they themselves 
were strangers in the land of Egypt. 

Though the general character of the Mosaic legisla- 
tion was humane, yet the sanguinary and relentless 
conduct enjoined against the seven Canaanitish nations 
was most cruel. Towards them mercy was a crime,, 
extermination a duty. This war-law, cruel as it was, 
was not in the least more barbarous than that of sur- 
rounding nations, especially the Canaanites themselves. 
As regards the horrible atrocities of warfare in Pales- 
tine, the Hebrews were far superior to their age. Many 
incidents are related about the mutilation of distin- 
guished captives and the torture of prisoners. Adoni- 
beyek, one of the native kings, acknowledges that the 
seventy kings, with their thumbs and toes cut off, had 
gathered their meat under his table. The Hebrews 
were obliged to exterminate the Canaanites, because 
they had no country of their own, and had to establish 
themselves somewhere. 

But what excuse have the followers of the lowly 
Nazarene, who preach Jpeace on earth and good-will 
towards men, to follow the same course. Their only 
excuse is their selfish love for aggrandizement. When 
the Hebrews once determined the invasion and con- 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 115 

quest of Palestine, no other alternative remained but 
to extirpate or to be extirpated, and the struggle for 
existence compelled them to wage this bloody war. 
The superstitious say that it was God who determined 
ihe extermination of the Canaanites, because they 
were bloody, licentious and barbarous idolators, and 
replace them with a people of milder manners and 
pure religion. This scheme had nothing to do with a 
divine providence; it was created within the daring, 
comprehensive mind of the Hebrew legislator. He 
undertook to lead his people through a long and dread- 
ful career of bloodshed and massacre. The war in 
which the Hebrews were engaged was not stripped of 
its customary horrors and atrocities, nor was it until 
these savage and unrelenting passions had fulfilled 
their task that the influence of their milder institutions 
had softened and humanized their national character. 
The conquest once achieved, they were to settle down 
into a nation of peaceful husbandmen, under a mild 
and equal constitution. Up to a certain point they 
were trained in the worst possible discipline for peace- 
ful citizens. Every disposition opposite to those in- 
culcated by the general spirit of the law was encour- 
aged; their ambition was inflamed, military habits 
were formed, the love of restless enterprise was fos- 
tered, and the habit of subsisting upon plunder was 
encouraged, yet a limit was fixed to their conquests. 
Beyond a certain boundary the ambitious invasion, 
which before was a virtue, now became a crime, and 
the whole victorious nation was suddenly to pause in 
its career. At a given point their arms fell from their 
hands; their thirst of conquest subsided, and a great 
agricultural republic, with an equal administration of 



116 THE VOICE OF REASON 

Justice, a thriving and industrious population, broth- 
erly harmony and mutual good- will between all ranks, 
domestic virtues, purity of morals and gentleness of 
manners, rose in the midst of the desolation their arms 
made. 

When the end of the greatest man the world had 
ever produced drew near, he summoned the whole 
nation to receive his Jinal instructions. He selected 
Mounts Ebal and Gerizim for that purpose. The former 
was a barren, stony and desolate craig; the latter was 
a lovely and fertile height, with luxuriant verdure, 
streams of running water, cool and shady groves. This 
spot had a certain significance; it meant that as God 
had blasted Mount Ebal, so he would smite the dis- 
obedient with barrenness, hunger and misery; as he 
crowned Gerizim with beauty and fruitfulness, so he 
would bless the faithful with abundance, peace and 
happiness. 0ur imagination cannot conceive of a 
scene more imposing or more solemn, or more likely 
to impress a whole people with deep and reverent awe, 
as the final ratification of the law which Moses com- 
manded. Having thus appointed all the circumstances 
o$ this impressive scene, he enlarged on the blessings 
of obedience; he laid before his people the conse- 
quences of disobedience and wickedness, and at length 
closed his admonitions, his warnings and his exhorta- 
tions to repentance, appointed Joshua as his successor, 
and then ascended to the loftiest eminence of the 
mountain, in order that he might once behold, before 
Jiis eyes closed forever, the promised land. 

Though Moses was educated in Egypt, where the 
immortality of the soul entered into the popular belief, 
jet he maintained a profound silence on this subject, 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 11T 

and substituted temporal chastisements and temporal 
blessings. On the violation of the constitution would 
follow blighted harvests, famine, pestilence, defeat 
and captivity; on its maintenance would follow abun- 
dance, health, fruitfulness, victory and independence. 
This shows that Moses, like many sensible people, 
knew that the hereafter is a humbug, and a delusion. 
The only reward and punishment which we receive are 
in this world only, and in no other. Our happiness 
or our unhappinesss depends greatly upon our own 
conduct. 

The true greatness of Moses consists in his generous 
indignation at the oppression under which his kindred 
were laboring, his single-minded attachment to the 
poor, degraded and toil-worn slaves from whom he 
sprung, and his deliberate rejection of all the power, 
wealth and rank which awaited him if he had forsaken 
his race and joined himself to the people who adopted 
him. Moses has exercised a more extensive and per- 
manent influence over the destinies of mankind at 
.large than any other man in the world's history, When 
the name of Jesus, as a god, is held up to derision, and 
when the Bible, as the word of God, is laughed to 
scorn, the name of Moses will still shine forth with 
effulgence and his true greatness will not be disputed. 
He was chieftain, historian, poet and law-giver; he 
was the author of Hebrew civil existence. Other 
founders of republics and distinguished legislators 
have been at the heads of settled and organized com- 
munities, but Moses had first to form his people and 
bestow on them a country of their own before he 
could create his commonwealth. He found his^people 
a race of slaves. In this condition he took them up 



118 THE VOICE OF REASON 

and rescued them from captivity. Finding them unfit 
for his purpose he kept them for forty years under the 
severe discipline of the desert, then led them as con- 
querors to take possession of a most fruitful country. 
The virtue of pure and disinterested patriotism never 
shone forth with more radiance than in his singular 
disregard to his own fame. The permanent happiness 
of his people was the one great object to which he de- 
voted his whole life. 

Moses is entitled to the highest rank among the 
benefactors of humanity, as having been the first to 
attempt to regulate society by an equal written law. 
He founded his commonwealth on just principles, and 
advanced political society to a high degree of perfec- 
tion. I have neither the eloquence nor the poetical 
inspiration to do justice to the oharacter of Moses, 
therefore I willl quote the Hebrew text and say, < Loi 
/yea ca Mosha oide" which means that there will be 
none like unto Moses. 



IS A UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD 

OF HAN POSSIBLE WITHOUT 

A UNIVERSAL RELIGION? 



All thinkiDg men are desirous of establishing a uni- 
versal brotherhood of man, and every religious sect 
is anxious for its particular religion to be the uni- 
versal one. The Jewish, so called, doctors of divinity 
are promulgating a new doctrine. They claim that 
the Jews are a nation of priests; they say that since 
the flood mankind has sunk into the depth of ignorance 
and superstition ; and in order to rescue mankind from 
these immoralities God chose the Jews to become a na- 
tion of priests, their priests receiving the revelation of 
God's wishes. These were revealed by the loving God 
in order to make human happiness possible, and these 
priests were to minister to the religious wants of all 
humanity. As regards the priests, I would say that 
it has been, and still is, the aim of the priest to keep 
the people in ignorance and to nurse the superstitions 
of old. I believe that enlightenment has a tendency to 
demoralize it, and a religion whose endeavor is to keep 
the people in ignorance will never become universal. 
Another reason why the Jews think that their religion 
will be the universal one is because it is the oldest. 
The claim of priority might be sustained at the patent 
office, but it will have no effect where common sense is 
concerned. 



120 THE VOICE OF REASON 

In order to be a Jew you must believe that the Old 
Testament is the word of God and the New Testament 
is the word of a liar. To be a Jew you must believe 
that only the circumcised will inherit 'the kingdom of 
heaven and the uncircumcised shall inherit some other 
place. To be a Jew you must believe that the Messiah 
is yet to come, and that he will enter the city of Jeru- 
salem on the same ass that Abraham rode when he of- 
fered his son Isaac on the mount of Moriah. To be a 
Jew you must believe that on rosh hashashanah, or 
the Jewish new year, three books are opened in heaven: 
one is for the righteous, who are immediately inscribed 
for life; one for the wicked who are instantly inscribed 
for death; and one for the nondescript, who are left on 
probation, and if the latter repent during the peneten- 
tial days between rosh hashashanah and yam kipper, 
which means the day of atonement, then their names 
are written in the Book of Life if not in that of death. 

If the dupes who believe in this nonsense would stop 
and think for a minute, they would easily be convinced 
that this whole regime is a humbug. Why? Because, 
if there were any truth in it, there would be no wicked 
people on this earth; because, according to this theory* 
God has doomed the wicked to die; yet we see many 
people on this earth that ought to be dead. 

According to the Jewish belief, God once a year 
assumes the role of head bookkeeper, and converts the 
heavens into a census bureau, keeping an account of 
the doings of every Israelite; and God has many angels 
who assist him in his work. These angels are stationed 
on the four sides of his throne; they have two hundred 
and fifty-six wings. They assemble around the throne; 
tremblingly they cover their faces, because of the 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 121 

Presence on the throne. The likeness of the firmament 
is expanded over their heads under the throne; it is the 
likeness of ice, and in it is the flaming throne. These 
angels sweat though not fatigued; but, in dread of the 
throne, they run swiftly and return terrified by the 
impetuous rush of the' throne. They fly like a flash of 
lighintng, but move not the glorious throne; they 
know that the whole universe is not able to support the 
place of the throne. The soles of these angels' feet 
are 27 375,075 miles straight from this earth to the 
throne. When they are permitted to glorify God, they 
leap from beneath the throne; they faint in dread of 
God who sits on the throne. It appears as if they 
carried the throne, but, instead, they are carried by 
the throne; they are carried by the everlasting arms to 
the throne. When Israel's prayer ascends, they drop 
the wing that it may reach the throne; but when trans- 
gressions are many, they join the vving to prevent the 
accusers approaching the throne; and when Satan 
cometh to accuse them God spreads a cloud to hinder 
his approach to the throne; but when the sound of the 
shofar, or horn, ascends it lays hold of the front of the 
throne and intercedes for mercy for those who are en- 
graven on the throne; and even the throne opens its 
mouth and prays, saying: "Remember, O, God, thy 
holy people Israel, whom thou hast chosen for thine 
inheritance." 

Here is a piece of imagery that puts the crazy brain 
©f Talmage to shame. The author of this nonsense, in 
order to make his God appear great and powerful cre- 
ated angels whose feet are 27,375 075 miles long. If 
some enterprising shoe drummer could find these 
angels, and induce them to give their order for a pair 



122 THE VOICE OF ILEASON 

of shoes our hard times would be done away with. It 
would give employment to the whole human race for 
at least a thousand years. 

We believe that justice should be impartial, but, ac- 
cording to this author's idea, it is not so in heaven. I 
believe that evidence against the criminal should be 
presented to the judge and the criminal punished ac- 
cording to his misdeeds. I also believe that the ac- 
cuser should not be restrained from appearing before 
the judge, but in heaven they do things differently. 
'When Satan, the accuser, tries to appear before the 
throne of God, and lay his evidence before him, his 
angels with the big feet join their wings so as to pre- 
vent the accuser from approaching to the throne, and 
even God spreads a cloud to hinder his approach. This 
is the kind of justice that is done in heaven; and what 
can we expect of our earthly judges when the heavenly 
judge is corrupt? The Jewish religion is full of super- 
stitious nonsense, but its dietary laws and ethical teach- 
ings are good; and if all the superstitious rubbish were 
removed, then it could be accepted as the universal 
religion. The Christians have tried hard for centuries 
to make their religion universal, but failed. In former 
times they used an instrument for this purpose called 
the rack, but now they use cheap whiskey and brass 
ornaments to entice the heathen to Jpsus. 

Christianity is a religion of love, and the Christians, 
in their endeavors to convert the Jews to Christianity, 
used this Christian love too lavishly. The world's his- 
tory has no darker pages than those that tell of the 
Jews from the time they were driven from Judea, to 
be widely scattered and separated, persecuted in every 
.Christian land, tortured on the rack, burned at the 



AXI) TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 123 

stake, plundered of property, and the dearer possessions 
of wives and children sold as slaves, expelled from 
each halting place, until they had nowhere to lay their 
heads in peace. There is an endless tale in the cold 
facts of their history. Even the unsympathetic ob- 
server must shudder at the cruel massacres and butch- 
eries. Men, women and children of the Jewish race 
were imprisoned, plundered and massacred in England, 
the persecution culminating, at one period, in the emi- 
gration of thousands, pursued by the loving Christians, 
and leaving all their property in the hands of the 
king. 

In Germany they were bought and sold as servants 
of the king; and, when free of bondage, were driven 
from one city after another, and robbed at every ex- 
pulsion. Xo language can describe the fate of the 
Jews in Spain. They were the victims of a Christian 
crusade. They were violently converted — persecuted, 
tortured and massacred without pause or remorse. 
Burning alive was the fate of thousands. Sisebut 
commanded all the Jews either to abandon their relig- 
ion or at once to leave the dominions of the Goths. 
They assembled with tears and groans in the court of 
the palace, obtained an audience with the royal bigot, 
and pleaded their cause; but all their pleading had no 
affect upon the tyrant. He told them that they must 
receive spiritual blessings or suffer the consequences. 
Those Jews who would not submit to baptism were 
thrown into prison, and treated with the utmost rigor. 
Some fled into France or Africa, others abandoned 
their religion; but how far their hearts renounced their 
creed, or how speedily relapsed, must remain uncer- 
tain. 



124 THE VOICE OF REASON 

The most melancholy hour in the history of the Jew- 
ish race, since the destruction of Jerusalem, was when 
the ruin of the Jews was accomplished by the twelfth 
Council of Toledo, in the reign of Ervig. It far sur- 
passed its predecessors in its elaborate cruelty. The 
Jews were assembled in the Church of the Holy Virgin at 
Toledo, and the resolutions of this Christian assembly 
were read aloud. The preamble was as follows: The 
penalty for profaning the name of Christ, rejecting the 
sacrament of the Lord's Supper, blaspheming the trin- 
ity, was to be punished with one hundred lashes on 
the naked body; that the offender was to be put in 
chains, banished, and his property confiscated to the 
lord of the soil. The circumcision of a child was more 
cruelly visited on the man by mutilation, on the woman 
by the loss of her nose and the seizure of her property. 
The same penalty was attached to the conversion of a 
Christian to Judaism. Such were the acts of the 
twelfth Council of Toledo, but laws when they ar& 
carried to such an extent of cruelty usually prevent 
their own execution. 

The shores of Africa were beginning to gleam with 
the camps of the Saracens, who threatened to cross the 
narrow strait and overwhelm the bigoted and trembling 
monarchy. The king needed money for the purpose 
of resisting the Saracen invasion. The king denounced 
a general conspiracy of the Jews to massacre the Chris- 
tians, subdue the land and overthrow the monarchy. 
The king declared that the Jews r defiled by the blood 
of Christ, had meditated ruin against the king and 
kingdom. The bigoted churchmen instantly passed a 
decree to confiscate all the property of the Jews to the 
royal treasury, to disperse the whole race as slaved 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 125 

through the country, to seize all their children under 
seventeen years of age, to bring them up as Christians. 
As soon as this decree was proclaimed, then a general 
slaughter of the Jews began, and the horrors that these 
unfortunate people experienced are too awful for the 
sympathetic mind to contemplate 

The Jews fared no better in France. St. Louis, for 
the welfare of his soul, annulled one-third of all the 
debts due to Jews. The populace readily concurred 
with their devout monarch in the persecution of their 
creditors. St. Louis was actuated by two motives, one 
grounded on religion, his implacable hatred toward the 
enemies of Christ; the other was money to replenish 
his treasury. The Christians rose upon the Jewish 
quarter in Paris, and committed frightful ravages. 
Their example was followed in Orleans and in many 
other cities. 

The vassals were not behind in lawless barbarity. 
The assize of Britany, held by John the Ked, who was 
a very pious Christian, banished the Jews from the 
country, annulled all their debts, and gave permission 
to those who possessed their property to retain it. He 
prohibited any molestation or information agaiust a 
Christian who might kill a Jew. This good, red Chris- 
tian licensed general pillage and murder. The next 
ordinance was against the Jewish religion. Supersti- 
tion and fanaticism ran high. The Jews were suspected 
of possessing much dark knowledge, which they em- 
ployed to wreak their revenge on Christians — supposed 
to be in alliance with the evil spirits. They were sup- 
posed to be the masters of many fearful secrets and 
cabalistic spells. They were prohibited practising as 
physicians; for who knew by what assistance they 



126 THE VOICE OF REASON 

might heal? The great source of their blasphemies 
against Christ as well as these dangerous and mysteri- 
ous secrets was their dark and unintelligible Talmud. 
An edict was issued for the destruction of these vol- 
umes. Twenty-four cartfulls were burnt in Paris. 
Could St. Louis have completed his task, and eradicated 
the Talmud from the hearts of the Jewish people, he 
might have shaken the rabbinical power, and inflicted 
a fatal blow upon the Jewish religion. Many of the 
wise men fled in order to secure their treasures of 
knowledge. This emigration was well timed for Louis, 
who wanted money for his Crusade. The goods of the 
emigrants and their debts were seized for the use of 
the king. 

One thing was yet wanting to crown the cup of mis- 
ery, and that was a badge so as to make the Jews an 
object of inevitable persecution. It was ordained that 
they should wear a sort of conspicuous outward brand 
upon their dress. It was to be worn by both sexes, 
and consisted of a piece of blue cloth on the front and 
back of their garments. This noble saint, who is to- 
day worshiped in the Christian Church, had bequeathed 
to his miserable subjects whom he had oppressed dur- 
ing his life a new legacy of shame. The heart grows 
sick and the brain dizzy in relating this Christian love. 
We know not where to look for gleams of Christian 
mercy through these clouds of fanaticism and injus- 
tice. 

Philip VI., in order to raise money, sold protection 
to individual Jews; but not satisfied with this plan of 
making money he issued a decree for the total expul- 
sion of the Jews. In one day the most wealthy Jews 
of Languedoc were seized, their goods sold and their 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 



127 



debts confiscated to the crown. Tbe same scene took 
place in Paris and in many other cities. 

When Louis X. ascended the throne, the disordered 
state of the royal finance constrained the submission of 
the king and all his nobles to the re-admission of the 
Jews, and the Jews without hesitation consented to pur- 
chase at a great price the happiness of inhabiting a land 
where they had already been plundered and maltreated. 
But what could these unhappy people do? They could 
not find a place to lay their heads in peace. 

No sooner had the Jews settled in France than a 
fresh calamity befell them. Under the guidance of a 
priest and a monk the peasants and the shepherds drew 
together from all quarters. They were told that the 
Holy Land was to be conquered only by shepherds and 
the poor in spirit, and that they marched behind a ban- 
ner with a white cross-. These fanatics gave way to the 
most relentless barbarities against the Jews. Every- 
where these unhappy people were piilaged, massacred, 
or put to the torture. When they could they fled and 
five hundred made their escape to Verdun, where the 
governor gave them a tower in which they could defend 
themselves. The shepherds assailed them and set fire 
to the gates, and the desperate Jews, in hope of mercy 7 
threw their children down to the besiegers. But these 
loving Christians and mercy were strangers, so they 
slew every one of the fugitives. In r 11 the cities these 
frightful scenes took place, yet this was but the begin- 
ning of their sorrows. The Pope of R >me had seized 
the opportunity of their misery, during the preceding 
year, to aggravate it by commanding their Talmuds to 
be burned. The papal sanction was thus given to the 
atrocities which followed. In many provinces the Jews* 



128 THE VOICE OF REASON 

were burned without distinction. At Chinon a deep 
ditch was dug and one hundred and sixty of both sexes 
burned together. A third time the same horrible scene 
was enacted. This completed the wretchedness of the 
Jews that remained in this desolated country. The 
vengeance of these loving Christians was let loose in a 
most merciless manner, the Jews were driven from 
place to place without pause or remorse, and for what 
reasoD? Because they obeyed God's command to cru- 
cify his only begotten son. 

The Jews beheld with the greatest alarm the prepara- 
tions for the Crusade, when the whole Christian world, 
from the king to the peasant, were suddenly seized with 
a resolution to conquer the Holy Laud in order that 
they might be masters of the sepulchre of the crucified 
Nazarene, when the first immense horde of undisci- 
plined fanatics under the command of Peter the Her- 
mit arid Walter the Penniless, and the guidance of a 
goose and of a goat, assembled near the city of Treves, 
a murmur rapidly spread through the camp, t^at while 
they were advancing to reconquer the sepulchre of their 
Kedeemer from the infidels they were leaving behind 
them worse uublievers — the murderers of the Jjord. 
With one impulse the Crusaders rushed to the city and 
began a relentless pillage, violation and massacre of 
every Jew they could find. In this horrible day men 
were seen to slay their own children in order to save 
them from worse usage by these savages; women, hav- 
ing deliberately tied stones around themselves that they 
might sink, plunged from the bridge to save their honor; 
the rest fled to the citadel as a place of refuge. They 
were received by the bishop with these words: 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 129 

"Wretches, your sias have come upon you. Ye who 
have blasphemed the son of God and calumniated his 
mother, this is the cause of your present miseries; this, 
if ye persist in your obduracy, will destroy you, body 
^ind soul." 

He reproached them with their disregard of Daniel's 
prophecy of the Lord's coming, and promised protection 
to their persons and property on their conversion and 
baptism. Micha, the head of the Jews, requested in- 
struction in the Christian religion. The bishop repeated 
a short creed and the Jews, in their agony of terror, as- 
sented. The same bloody scenes were repeated in 
Metz, in Cologne, in Mantz, in Worms and in Spire. 
In Cologne, two huDdred were dragged from the river, 
into which they had thrown themselves, and were hewn 
in pieces. Everywhere the tracks of the Crusaders 
were deeply marked with Jewish blood. A troop under 
Count Emico offered the same horrid sacrifices to the 
God of mercy. 

One other storm was seen gathering in the distance. 
Like a bird of evil omen which predicts the tempest 
the monk Rudolph passed through the cities of Germany 
to preach the duty of wreaking vengeance on all the 
enemies of God. The terrible cry, ''Jerusalem is lost!" 
rang through the cities of the Rhine. The Jews knew 
who were included under the designation of Christ's 
enemies. Some made a timely retreat, but a frightful 
havoc took place and thousands of them were massacred 
by those bloodthirsty avengers of God. 

In the time when Christian superstition was at its 
height England was not advanced beyond the other na- 
tions of Europe in the civil or religious wisdom of tol- 
eration. When the king was in want of money, or the 



130 THE VOICE OF REASON 

nobles wished to repudiate their debts, they bruited 1 
abroad some dark tales which were readily credited bjr 
the loving Christians. They gave out that a Christian 
boy was crucified by the Jews at Norwich. This 
atrocity was imputed to them in Gloucester and at Saint 
Edmondsbury. At the latter place the churchmen de- 
rived further advantage, besides aggravating the gen- 
eral hatred against the Jews. The body of the youth 
who was supposed to have been crucified was interred 
with great solemnity and his tomb wrought frequent 
miracles. The king did not overlook this favorable op- 
portunity for filling his coffers. He extorted a large 
sum of money from the Jews, and those who refused to 
submit to his terms, he banished. At Norwich, at 
Edmondsbury and at Stamford, the Jews were plun- 
dered and slain. 

This Christian love spread to York. Some of the 
Jews took refuge in the castle, and those who were not 
sufficiently expeditious were put to the sword, neither 
age nor sex being respected. The Jews within the 
castle suspected that secret negotiations were going on 
between the governor of the castle and the populace 
for their surrender. The desperatate men felt ihat 
they had but one alternative. Seizing the opportunity 
of the governor's absence, they closed the gates against 
him and manned the citadel. The sheriff of the county 
happened to be in town with an armed force. At the 
persuasion of the governor and the populace he gave 
the signal for attack, but being alarmed at the frantic 
fury with which the rabble swarmed to the assault, 
endeavored to revoke his fatal order, but in vain. The 
clergy openly urged on the besiegers One of these 
godly men stood in the midst of the ferocious niulti- 



AND TKTJTHFTJL. ECHOES. 13V 

tude with his surplice on, shouting aloud, "Destroy the 
enemies of Christ." Every morning this fierce church- 
man took the sacrament and then proceeded to his 
post, where he perished by a large stone thrown from 
the battlements. The besieged, after a manful resist- 
ance, found their fate unavoidable; so they set fire to 
the castle in many places and resolved to die in this 
manner. The next morning the people rushed to the 
assault with their accustomed fury. They saw flames 
issuing from every part of the castle and a few misera- 
ble wretches running to and fro on the battlements, 
who, with supplication and with cries, revealed the 
fate of their companions. They entreated mercy, offer- 
ing to submit to baptism; but no sooner were the 
terms accepted and the gates opened than the fanatical 
mob poured in and put every living being to the sword. 
This is another sample of Christian love. 

France and Eogland at last purified their realms 
from the infection of Jewish infidelity. Two centuries 
after their expulsion from England, one after that 
from France, Spain, disdaining to be outdone in reli- 
gious persecution, made up the long arrears of her 
dormant intolerance and asserted again her evil pre- 
eminence in bigotry. Bertrand du Gueclin and his 
followers, when they marched into Spain to dethrone 
Pedro, assumed a white cross as the symbol of a holy 
war and announced their determination to exterminate 
the Jews. They acted up to their declaration, and no 
quarter was given. ' Kill all; kill them like sheep and 
oxen," was the relentless order. The clergy beheld 
with deep animosity that the Jews did not pay tribute 
to the Church. Their religious zeal was animated by 
pride, avarice and jealousy, and they began to preach; 



132 THE VOICE OF REASON 

against the latter with fatal effect. The population of 
Seville rose and plundered the Jewish houses, and at 
length the whole quarter was in names. Cordova, 
Toledo, Valencia, and other cides followed the exam- 
ple, and plunder and massacre raged through the realm. 
The priests spread abroad that tne Jews were insulting 
the host, and in all parts the clergy labored to keep up 
the flame of hatred against them. The most promin- 
ent and successful of their missionaries was Vincent 
Ferrier, who traversed the country, followed by a train 
of bare-footed penitents. While the earth was stained 
with their blood, his miracles and his preaching are said 
to have converted 35,000 Jews to Christianity. 

The clergy also summoned to their assistance that 
stern and irresistible ally, the Inquisition. That tri- 
bunal had already proved its zeal by exterminating the 
Albigenses and desolating the beautiful province of 
Languedoc. Alfonso di Gojeda, prior of the Dominic- 
ans in Seville, urged the monarch to bless their king- 
dom by the erection of a similar office, that the whole 
realm might be reduced to the unity of the Christian 
faith. The fatal bull was obtained from the Tope em- 
powering the monarch to nominate certain of the clergy 
to make strict inquisition into all persons suspected of 
heretical tendecies. Two Dominicans, Michael Morillo 
and John St. Martin were named as inquisitors. This 
tribunal enlisted the worst passions in their cause. A 
third of the property of concemned heretics was con- 
fiscated to the use of the holy office, another third was 
assigned for the expenses of the trial, and the last third 
went to the crown. 

This tribunal established its headquarters at Seville, 
and assumed at once a lofty tone, denouncing ven- 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 133 

geance against all heretics. Thus the dreadful work 
began. Victims crowded the prisons; the convent was 
not large enough for their business, and the inquisitors 
moved to the castle of Triana. Secret denunciations 
were encouraged; net to denounce was a crime worthy 
of death. At the head of this tribunal was placed one- 
of the most cruel and unscrupulous bigots, and the 
terrible suffering the Jews experienced at the hands of 
this cruel monster is too horrible to relate. They were 
tortured on the rack aDd burned at the stake. It makes 
our blood run cold when we think of this tyrant's 
bloody work Torquemada, in order to fill their cup 
of misery, prevailed upon the monarch to banish the 
Jews from Spain. The latter made a futile effort to 
avert their fate. Aborbanel, a man of great learning 
and of unblemished reputation, threw himself at the 
feet of the king and queen, and, in the name of his 
people, offered an immense sum to recruit the finances 
of the kingdom. The inquisitors were hardened 
against all feelings of humanity and justice. The 
royal pair were on the point of consenting to revoke 
the decree, when Torquemada advanced into the royal 
presence, bearing a crucifix. Pointing to it, he said:: 
"Behold him whom Judas sold for thirty pieces of 
silver. Sell ye him now for a higher price, and render 
an account of your bargain before God." The sover- 
eigns trembied before the ste^n bigot, and the doom of 
the Jews was irrevocably sealed. For three centuries 
their fathers had dwelt in this country, which they had 
enriched with their commerce and their learning. They 
were compelled to leave the country which had become 
so dear to them. Yet there were few examples of 



134 THE VOICE OF REASON 

all rather than submit to baptism. This was a sad 
emigration of hunted men and women, fleeing from 
the fire and sword of the loving Christians. 

I have tried to be as brief as possible in presenting 
Christian love to your view — and this is only a faint 
representation of their loving-kindness. The Jews, in 
their distress, offered a petition to the all-loving God. 
This petition was as follows: "0 Lord! why hast thou 
afflicted thy people so much? We have not forgotten 
thee; neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant. 
We have trusted in thee, O God of our fathers, and*we 
shall steadfastly adhere to thy commandments. And 
now, O Lord, in this hour of our affl ction, hasten to 
help us, Oh, our God. For thy sake only are we killed 
all day; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. 
Make haste to help us, our Father who art in heaven. 
Plead our cause, and deliver us with thy salvation, and 
also unto them that had changed their glory for an 
unprofitable one." The only answer they received 
from this loving and merciful God was to skin their 
own skunks, and the frightful butcheries went on as 
before. 

Not until the dawn of reason in the eighteenth 
century, and brave and noble champions of the free- 
thinking fraternity pleaded their cause, was there a 
chacge in their favor. It is a strauge fact of history 
that the whole Christian world should have turned 
against a whole people who, in their general chargcter- 
istics, were least likely of a.l the races of men to give 
trouble — an industrious, striving, home-loving people, 
observing the laws of the country in which they lived, 
not meddling with the affairs of others, content to be 
■let alone, and, wherever permitted, applying them- 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 135 

selves to the arts and sciences, music and literature, 
with the result of enriching the world's store of useful 
knowledge. They have not been an injury to any 
country It is a fact tint in the lands where they are 
given citizenship, or are even uumolested, there is 
prosperity, while in those where the Jews are stricken 
down and maltreated, there is bankruptcy, ruin and 
commotion threatening the life of the State. 

The intelligent mind is horrified at the intolerance of 
re'ia;ion as the most miserable and hideous thing in 
history, attesting its diabolical character in every age 
by fire and massacre. Men and women are turned 
into monsters by intolerant religion. They invoke the 
Lord while slaughtering their brothers and sisters, and 
while their hands are wet with innocent human blood. 
This was the work instigated by crafty priests. He 
who avenges the Church becomes a saint. All is 
legitimate, and murder is just; it is authorized, it is 
commanded, by the all-loving and merciful God. He 
who commits murder in defence of the Church has a 
free pass to heaven. 

History proves that the former methods of tbe Chris- 
tians to make their religion universal was a dismal 
failure, and it will be my endeavor to prove that their 
present method will avail them nothing. Why? Be- 
cause in order to become a Christian we must anni- 
hilate our reason altogether. We must not believe in 
the immutability of Nature's laws, but we must believe 
that a woman conceived by a ghost, and that the child 
of this ghostly union was the Son of God and was God 
himself. We must believe that God loved the world so 
affectionately that he offered his only-begotten son as 
a sacrifice for the atonement of the sins of the world. 



136 THE VOICE OF REASON 

This sacrifice was made in order to purify the world 
from sin, and when we confront our Christian theo- 
logians by showiDg them that since this sacrifice was 
made sin has no; diminished, but increased, they tell 
us that we are fit subjects for everlasting hell nre. 
To be a Christian, we must believe that the dead Jesus 
said that we must believe that the dead Jesus said to 
the fanatical Paul, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou 
me?" If the crucified Jesus could rebuke the fanatical 
Paul, why did he not rebuke the fiends of the Holy 
Inquisition, who tortured their victims with inhuman 
and barbarous cruelty, and for the only reason that 
they believed in Jesus, but refused to believe in the 
Pope of Rome. 

To be a Christian one must believe that bread is- 
flesh and that wine is blood. Rivers of human blood 
have been shed on account of this nonsensical doc- 
trine, because some people could not believe that the 
priests could transform bread into flesh and wine into 
blood. This bloody nonsense is called 4; The Holy 
Sacrament," or the "Eucharist," which means the 
conversion of bread and wine into the body and blood 
of Christ. Now, if the priests have the power to con- 
vert bread into flesh, why do they not open meat mar- 
kets. Bread is cheaper than meat, and they could 
make a fortune by this transaction. But they have an 
easier way of making money. He who dies without 
partaking of the holy sacrament goes straight to hell, 
and the only thing that can get him out of this place is 
the reading of mass. Each one of these masses costs 
one dollar, and it requires a great many of them to get 
the culprit out of hell. High mass is more effective, 
but it costs twenty-five dollars, and only the rich caa 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 13T 

affords such a luxury. The lower mass is very handy 
for the poor people, because they can get the defunct 
soul out of purgatory on the installment plan. 

Every Christian who dies goes first to purgatory and 
stays there indefinitely. Purgatory is connected with 
heaven by a flight of stairs. The interior is something 
like a pigsty and the miserable wretch has to stay in 
this place until the priest begins to read mass for him. 
Each one of these brings the condemned one nearer 
the stairs and eventually he steps on them. Every mass 
the priest reads brings the soul one step higher, and 
when the priest gets the soul on the last step he keeps 
it there until the last dollar has been extorted from rel- 
atives, then Peter opens the gate of heaven and the 
priest kicks the soul straight into heaven. Some peo- 
ple say that there is no such a place as purgatory. The 
reason they think so is because they cannot find it on 
the map. 

Right here I wish to say that the spiritual map- 
makers use different instruments to ascertain their ge- 
ographical conclusions. They use an instrument called 
imagination. These spiritual map-makers are very ac- 
curate in figures. They say that three times one are 
one instead of three, and the dupes who buy their maps- 
are not particular in regard to accuracy and so their 
business goes on; but the time will come when people 
will wake up from their stupor and seek for truth, then 
will the occupation of the priest be ended. If the 
Christians would throw away all their dogmatic n' m- 
sense and represent Jesus as he really is, rejecting alii 
his mystical absurdities but accepting his ethical teach- 
ings, then their religion would become universal. 

Spiritualism tries to prove man's immortality and the 



138 THE VOICE OF REASON 

existence of a spiritual universe. Its endeavor is to 
desoroy all fear of death, and it repudiates the doctrine 
of eternal punishment and substitutes the assurance of 
eternal progress. It denies the immoral doctrine of 
any vicarious atonement for sin, it ignores the concep- 
tion of a partial and vindictive God, it sweeps away the 
idea of a personal devil and locates the sources of evil 
in man's own imperfections, and declares that man 
must arise and become his own savior. It believes not 
in the idea of hell and heaven; it believes that happi- 
ness or misery depends on the good or the evil within 
ourselves. 

I agree on all these points because they constitute 
true religion, but I do not agree with the idea of the 
immortality of the soul. Why? Because we all know 
that there is no love like that of a mother for her child, 
and if the soul, which is supposed to be the real being 
and to be possessed with all the attributes of the living 
person, can return to earth and communicate with us, 
why does it not do so? It is also claimed that the soul 
that passed away into the spirit-world knows all about 
God and which is the true religion. If this is the case, 
why does not my mother's soul appear to me and in- 
form me which is the true religion, as my future happi- 
ness or misery depends on this knowledge? I know 
that when alive my mother always shielded me from 
all danger, and if her supposed soul exists and has the 
power to warn me of my impending doom, why does it 
not do so instead of leaving me to perish in an everlast- 
ing hell-fire because I cannot believe in the same non- 
sense which she believed in? 

But Spiritualists tell me that my mother's soul can 
only be brought forth by a medium. I am positively 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 139 

sure that these so called mediums are nothing more 
than humbugs and frauds. Why? Because we know 
that Noah Webster was a highly educated man, and 
when his spirit speaks through a medium he becomes 
vulgar and illiterate, so it seems that instead of pro- 
gressing in the spirit-world he has degenerated. This 
ought to convince the dupes who believe in Spiritualism 
that these so-called mediums are nothing but frauds. 

Spiritualists believe that when they leave this earth 
they pass into the spirit-world where they progress in 
knowledge, and the better part of man's nature is per- 
fected there. 

Here are some messages from the spirit-world, Let 
the intelligent person judge for himself. The spirit of 
Joseph Wolff speaks now: 

"Good afternoon, sir. I am Joseph Wolff, generally 
called Joe. Somehow the longer name never would 
stick to me, and if I should keep it here my folks 
wouldn't believe I was the same old chap. I always 
was a kind of rough-and-ready old fellow; it has been a 
part of me, I think, and so I come back in the same 
way. I seem to be in good company here, among 
bright and intellectual minds, but I am only plain Joe 
Wolff. Well, but I don't come as a wolf seeking whom 
he may devour. I am here with peaceful intentions; I 
have a desire to reach some of my friends. Some of 
them had discarded me when I was here, but I have al- 
ways had good feelings for my friends for all that. 
They turned away from me because I was not refined 
enough, I suppose not exactly religious enough, to suit 
their ideas of propriety and not altogether up to their 
aristocratic notions, and so they thought I was not just 
a safe person to get around with. Anyhow, they let 



140 THE VOICE OF REASON 

me go, but now I have turned up again. I hope I 
shall not bring annoyance to anyone, but to such friends 
as may be glad to hear from me I send my regards. I 
am well. I will not send my blessing, because no one 
expects any blessing from me, but I give them my good 
will; that will do. I have been very active since I went 
out of the body. I always was busy, but along differ- 
ent lines. I never accomplished much of anything, yet 
I think it is better to keep working and striving than to 
sit down and do nothing, and whenever 1 got hold of a 
good piece of work I would finish it. 

"I have got to speak a word for Dave; he is with me 
to day. He was a bright young man, and he is that 
now. He was not exactly a genius, but he unfolded in 
other artistic lines. He was gifted, and had great an- 
ticipations and hopes for his future. Well, the poor 
fellow went into decline, and after a long while of sick- 
ness and pain he passed to the spirit-world, and we all 
said that it was too bad and pretty hard on him to be 
cut off with all his prospects. When I got to the spirit- 
world the first one I put my eye on was Dave, and he 
has helped me very much ever since. He put his tal- 
ents to use and unfolded them in this world. He says 
that he is glad that he came over as he did. There are 
others that come with me to-day, and they all would 
like to come in communication with friends on this 
side. I may come again and then, perhaps, give you 
their names. Some of my friends live in Buffalo, and 
some of those who let me go because of my lack of 
aristocracy are in Brooklyn, N. Y." 

It seems that Joe Wolff has greatly improved in the 
spirit-world. He can use slang to perfection. 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 141 

The spirit of Eliza Jane Bobinson will now tell us 
what she knows of the spirit world. 

"Oh, that I could write an ode to love that would 
soften the hearts of all humankind; for that selfish lust 
which passes for love, yet hardens the hearts of its vic- 
tims, is love distorted and perverted. Nothing is needed 
on earth so much by mankind as a pure understanding, 
perfect and proper appreciation of sexual or divine 
love, the true elemental force and principle of exist- 
ence; f»r, besides being the sweetest boon and grand- 
est blessing to the race, no other gift is so ignorantly 
and outrageously abused. Yet, without its flow, com- 
merce or exchange, human or even angel life would be 
a blank and mere beastly existence. 

"Ignorant, and possibly honest, conservative politi- 
cians fight it and undertake to restrict and control it 
by custom and legislative enactments, yet love contin- 
ues to defy locks, bolts and bars, as is well known to 
everyone. 

"In my worldly life I was cramped and dwarfed in 
my expressions of love by fear of 'what people would 
say,' by education and conservative, earthly customs, 
My spirit rebelled within me, yearning for freedom to 
love and be loved; yet I failed on earth to reach my 
ideal loves. Had I done so, I might now have been 
the chosen, bosom friend, companion and co-worker of 
this medium and editor of this radical little Spiritual 
journal, as I aspired to be some thirty years ago, when 
I was attracted to him and his little Kingdom of 
Heaven, asked and offered him a partnership in his 
wee paper. He accepted me, and, for a few issues, 
gave me a department, which I named "The True 



142 THE VOICE OF REASON 

Union." At the close of the current volume, by invi- 
tation, he came to New York, near Niagara Falls, 
where we hoped to form a more perfect union to con- 
tinue the work of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. 
After a few days of conferring together, I weakened; 
my conservative devil got the better of me, and I cast 
him adrift. He wandered away to Berlin Heights, O., 
found other partners, and re-issued his paper, enlarged, 
from there; while I floated around to Vineland, N.J., 
when it repented me, after a sojourn of loneliness and 
want, that I had cast off my faithful lover, and would 
fain have him come to me. But he could not, nor 
could I go to him. 

"So we drifted apart from each other's reckonings; 
and I, the weaker vessel, starving for pure, healthful 
love, for a quarter of a century led an ascetic life, 
which at last festered into disease and death from par- 
alysis. 

"Not knowing where my old lover was, and in my 
affliction feeling the urgent need of his presence, and 
on whom I desired to bestow a blessing before I left 
my body, I sought him through the press, and every 
way possible, until found here at these Springs. I 
urged him to come to me without delay; but it was too 
late, and before arrangement could be made for an 
earthly meeting, my spirit had ascended, literally 
starved from the body for want of pure, sweet, mag- 
netic, sex love. 

"Friends, no less than my lover, have wondered at 
my long silence and reticence, but, on mingling with 
the ascended dear ones in spirit life, I was kindly and 
lovingly borne away to a grand and beautiful sniata- 
rium, in which to relieve and cure my spirit of its sev- 



AND TRUTIIFUL ECHOES. 14 £ 

eral infirmities or erroneous conceptions of truth; so 
that I now come forth strong in the effulgence of love's 
sweet aroma and incense to aid, strengthen and en- 
courage my dear friend and beloved in his arduous and 
thankless work of loving redemption, or heaven oa 
earth, which is gradually and surely impoverishing his 
physical organism and hastening a separation j his- 
soul and body. 

"And I am permitted to come to cheer him on with 
my renewed strength in universal love as best I may;. 
but, there being a slight veil separating our states, I 
cannot be so near and dear to him as my love would 
prompt me to administer to his magnetic needs. 
Therefore I can best help him by urging all spiritually 
unfettered female souls to draw near my lover and 
help my soul love and sustain his lacerated, loving: 
heart in his unselfish endeavors to establish God's uni- 
versal love on earth; and the more lovers he may find- 
on earth or in spirit land, the more expansive, pure,, 
sweet and holy will be my love to and for him, as in 
my sanitation and spiritual purgatorial education my 
love has so grown and expanded as to have become a* 
universal as my lover's, or as an angel's, with whom 
love grows from loving, being loved and mingling with 
pure and loving hearts " 

This is real, unselfish love. There being a veil 
which separates Eliza Jane Eobinson from her lover 
which prevents her from coming near to him, she tolls- 
all her female friends to draw near her lover and be- 
stow all their love on him; and she also tells them that 
the more female lovers he has the more will her own 
love develop. It seems to me that the people who- 



144 THE VOICE OF REASON 

profess Spiritualism ought to be ashamed of themselves 
to accept such trash as these spiritual messages, and 
believe them to have been uttered by the departed 
spirits of their friends. As regards the materializa- 
tions of spirits, all I have to say is that it is the great- 
est humbug ever invented. The numerous exposures 
of the same will substantiate the truth of my state- 
ment. 

Spiritualism will never become the universal relig- 
ion. Why? Because honest, thinking men will not 
be able to accept it as it is, but if all the fraud and 
humbug that it contains were eradicated, then its creed 
could become universal because there is truth in it. 

Theosophy originated in India. This is the country 
which the Christian Alliance named the '-Lord's Vine- 
yard," and where one ignorant Buddhist is led to Jesus 
at a cost of about ten thousand dollars, ten thousand 
intelligent Christians are led to Buddha free gratis. 
If Jesus keeps on trading with Buddha at this rate, he 
will be bankrupt, and the sooner his stockholders dis- 
pose of their stock the better for them, but if they per- 
sist in floating Jesus on the Indian market, they will 
surely be swamped. 

The reason why Buddha's success in making con- 
verts is so much greater than that of Jesus is that 
there is more sense in one grain of theosophy than 
there is in the whole Christian religion. Theosophy 
contains the best thoughts of the greatest Hindu phi- 
losophers. There is much in theosophy that I agree 
with and admire, but I cannot agree with its theory of 
reincarnation. This theory originated with the Egyp- 
tians, and it was introduced by Zoroaster to the Par- 
sees, and they introduced it to the Hindus. 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 145 

The Egyptian theory differs somewhat from the the- 
osophical one. The Egyptians believed that the soul 
of a person had to go through a round of transmigra- 
tions in the bodies of animals more or less unclean. 
The number, nature and duration of the transmigra- 
tions depended on the degree of the deceased's demerits, 
and the consequent length and severity of the punish- 
ment which he deserved or the purification which he 
needed. If, after many trials, sufficient purity was 
not attained, then the wicked soul which had proved 
itself incurable, underwent a final sentence at the 
hands of Osiris, judge of the dead, and was condemned 
to complete and absolute annihilation. 

The good soul, having first been freed from its in- 
firmities by passing through the purgatorial fire, was 
made the companion of Osiris for a period of three 
thousand years, after which it returned from Amenti, 
and re-entered its former body, rose from the dead 
and lived once more a human life on earth. This 
process was gone through again and again until a cer- 
tain mystic cycle of years became complete, when, to 
crown all, the good and blessed attained the final joy 
of union with God, and being absorbed into the divine 
essence from which they had emanated, they attained 
the full perfection and true end of their existence. 

Theosophy claims that man as we see him is not the 
real man, that this fleshly substance that we behold is 
merely the abode of the real man, that is, the "ego." 
This theory does not differ much from the meta- 
physical one, but the Theosophists go much further 
than the metaphysicians. They say that the ego is 
the real God, that man was before the world in its 
present state came into existence, and that it was the 



146 THE VOICE OF REASON 

ego of other worlds who formed this one. These egos- 
have been reincarnated in human bodies millions of 
times, and this process of reincarnation will go on 
until the human race and the whole world will be 
absorbed into the divine essence from which they 
emanated. 

Theosophy asserts that man must be reincarnated 
in order to obtain absolute knowledge, as one short life 
is not enough for its ob'.ainment, and by being born 
over and over again, perhaps ten thousand times or 
more, he may gain this experience. There is no limit 
to these reincarnations. Man must go through this 
process until perfection is reached, and when this is 
attained, man becomes a god. 

This earth is not the only place where knowledge i& 
obtained. Theosophists say that beyond the threshold 
of human life there is a place of separation wherein 
the better part of man is divided from his lower and 
brute elements. The real being, the ego, which is 
immortal, travels from life to life, struggling out of 
the body. The entire man goes into kama loka, where 
he again struggles and loosens himself. The lower 
skandhas, this period of birth over, the higher princi- 
ciples of the ego began to think in a different manner 
from that which body and brain permitted in life. 
This is the state of devachan, or the place of the gods, 
where the ego enjoys felicity. The egc remains in 
this state for a period proportionate to the merits of 
the being, and when the mental forces peculiar to the 
state are exhausted, the ego is drawn down again to be 
reborn in the world of mortals. The force which 
keeps the ego in the devachan state is of the ego'& 
own life, the thoughts and aspirations which prevent 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 147" 

his coming out, and when that force is exhausted, 
then it returns to the earth to be reincarnated in an- 
other human body. The period of time that the ego 
stays in devachan depends on the many psychic im- 
pulses it attained during its former life on earth. 
Those whose thoughts were of a material nature are 
soonest brought back into rebirth. He who has not in 
life originated many psychic impulses will stay in 
devachan but a short time. About all he will have 
will be those thoughts which he originated in child- 
hood, or before he began to fix his thoughts on ma- 
terialistic thinking. The materialistic thinker may 
emerge out of devachan into another body here in a 
month. The materialistic thinker might not go to 
devachan at all but for some psychic impulses that he 
originated in early life. Desperately materialistic 
thinkers will remain in the devachan state stupified or 
asleep. The reason the materialistic thinkers will 
remain in this condition is because they have no force 
in them appropriate to that state. So this class of 
egos remains torpid for a while, and then lives again 
on earth. 

I am afraid that my stay in devachan will be very 
short, because' my thoughts are intensely material- 
istic, and therefore 1 will have a chance to be born 
again soon. But this does not disconcert me, for it will 
enable me to continue my crusade against superstition. 
The last series of powerful and deeply - imprinted 
thoughts are those which give color to the whole life 
in devachan. On those the soul and mind fix them- 
selves, and weave of them a whole set of events and 
experiences, expanding them to their highest limit, 
carrying out all that was not possible in this earthly^ 



3.48 THE VOICE OF REASON 

life; thus expanding and weaving these thoughts, the 
entity has its growth, its expansion and its dying down 
to final exhaustion. If the person has led a colorless 
life, the devachan will be colorless; if a rich life, then 
it will be rich in variety and effect. The life of the 
ego is endless, and not to be stopped for one instant. 
Leaving our physical body is but a transition to an- 
other place for living in, but as the ethereal bodies of 
devachan are more lasting than those we have here, 
the spiritual and psychic causes use more time in ex- 
panding and exhausting in that state than they do on 
earth. 

The reason I am opposed to the reincarnation theory 
is because it avails nothing. What ^benefit do we 
receive by being born again? We cannot remember 
anything of our former lives. Many people say that 
if they could live their life over again they would do 
differently. What do they mean by this phrase? 
They mean that if such a thing were possible, they 
would correct their former errors. We must not be 
blind to the fact that every child which is born into 
the world knows nothing, and the ego which makes 
the child's life possible has been on this earth many 
times, and gained much knowledge. Why does it not 
assert itself ? We must admit that every child must 
be taught the rudiments of life, and if this is the case, 
what good has the ego accomplished by its former rein- 
carnations? 

Another reason is that when the ego left this earth 
it must have been possessed of some kind of language. 
It might have been German, or French, or English. 
Yet the child cannot express itself in any of these 
languages until taught to do so by its parent; and a 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 149' 

child one month old has not the intelligence that an 
animal of the same age has. This proves that the 
reincarnation theory is a delusion and an absurdity. 

It seems to me that in order for the ego to be re- 
incarnated it must begin in the ovum, as this particle 
of living matter contains all that goes to make up the 
future person, and this person cannot be evolved un- 
less fertilization takes place; and if the ovum is not 
fertilized, what becomes of the ego? 

Theosophists say that the ego is the thinker, and not 
the brain; that emanation, volition, and even thought 
itself, emanate from the ego. If this is the case, why 
is it that when the brain is impaired the ego cannot 
use reason? I believe that the ego, or soul, is a 
product of the development of the brain, just as mus- 
cular activity is a product of muscular development, 
and secretion a product of glandular development, and 
with the decay and dissolution of its material sub- 
stratum, through which alone it has acquired a con- 
scious existence and become a person, and upon which 
it was dependent, the ego ceases to exist. 

I believe that when the brain is not, the ego is not, 
and all emotion and feeling are gone. Many facts in 
science and human experience show that it is not a 
separate entity, but an attribute of the living man. 
The brain is as truly the organ of thought as the eye is 
the organ of vision Various incidents are recorded 
where persons have received injuries upon the head, 
indenting the skull, and producing sudden uncon- 
sciousness, which continued for days, weeks, and even 
months, until a trepanning process lifted the bone,- 
when consciousness was immediately restored. Some- 
times weeks have thus intervened between the begin- 



'150 THE VOICE OF REASON 

ning and ending of a sentence. This is conclusive 
proof that man does not possess a soul or an ego en- 
dowed with such self-existent energy as is ascribed to 
the ego. 

Theosophists claim that they can trace the ante- 
cedents of most ail the people now living, or who have 
lived before. They say that Charlemagne was the re- 
incarnation of Alexander the Great, that Napoleon 
Bonaparte was the reincarnation of Charlemagne, that 
Clovis of France was reborn as Frederick III. of Ger- 
many, and that Abraham Lincoln was the reincarna- 
tion of George Washington. A certain Theosophist 
says that Anna Kingsford was none other than the re- 
incarnat'on of Anne Boleyn, who was the reincarnation 
of Joan of Arc, who was the reincarnation of Faustina, 
wife of Marcus Aurelius, who was the reincarnation 
of Mary Magdalene. This same Theosophist says that 
he is the reincarnation of John the Kevelator. He 
tells us how he came to know this. He says that 
when writing he was suddenly seized with the desire 
to exchange supposition for positive assurance in re- 
gard to his identity with John, and, looking up from 
his writing, he mentally put this question as to his in- 
most self-being. He was absolutely calm and collected, 
and without the slightest expectation of response that 
he might be quite certain of the reality of his seeming 
recollections of his having been John, and that he 
was truly a reincarnation of the ego that was in him. 
The response to this question came with an instanta- 
neousness and a force which seemed to imply that the 
question had been prompted and expected in order to 
make answer to it. It was electric in its swiftness, 
-vividness and intensity, and se-emed to radiate from the 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 151 

very centre of his whole system to the very extremities, 
and consisted of a mighty "Yes"; and as this gentle- 
man found out that he was really John the Reveiator, 
h3 thinks that it is his duty to reveal nonsense as John 
did eighteen centuries ago. 

If I thought that the soul of Voltaire was within me 
I should be highly flattered. Why? Because Voltaire 
was a genius of the highest type, whereas John was 
the biggest fool that ever lived, and if I thought that 
his soul was within me, I would blow my brains out 
and send John's soul to perdition. We know of many 
people who thought that they were somebody else, but 
they were put into a lunatic asylum because they were 
too dangerous to be at large. 

Theosophists say that, by being reincarnated many 
times, we gain experience and thereby attain perfection. 
To what perfection has Alexander the Great reached 
when reincarnated in Charlemagne, or what perfection 
has Charlemagne attained when reincarnated in the 
body of Xapoleon Bonaparte, and of what benefit were 
these men to the world? These men deserve to be 
ranked among those famous robbers of the universe, 
those public enemies to mankind, who acknowledged 
no right but that of force, who looked upou the com- 
mon rules of justice with contempt, who set no other 
bounds to their designs and pretensions than rapacity 
and murder, who sacrificed the lives of millions to 
their particular ambition, and who made their ^lory 
consist in spreading desolation and destruction. 

Who are the great men? Are they those who have 
accumulated vast estates, who with miserly grasp, have 
filled their coffers at the expense of widows' tears of 
orphans' hungry cries? Are they political raiders who 



152 THE VOICE OF REASON 

have robbed their country of its priceless honor? Are 
they the priestly despots who, with the strong hand of 
tyrannical rule, compel all men to bow to their narrow 
and selfish conception of a God, futile to save but a 
trembling and craven few, while the larger part of his 
generous-hearted children are doomed to an eternal 
night? Does might make right? Is it he who, smooth 
and crafty, under the garb of monastic orders and of 
religious mien, squanders the hard-wrought earnings 
of the poor? Is it he who grinds their wages to enrich 
himself? Is it he who stands in public places, and 
cries with a loud voice, "Enter into the house of the 
Lord," while beneath the exterior of his sanctimonious 
visage dwells a soul mean enough to rob his neighbors 
of just debts, to deny a starving child a crust of bread? 
Is it he who is the great man? This is, indeed, the 
character of the greater part of those pretended great 
men whom the world admires, and by such ideas as 
these we ought to correct the impression made upon 
our minds by the undue praises and sentiments of 
many deceived by these false images of greatness. 

The great men and women are those who have helped 
to build the great system of free religious opinion and 
expression, of edcational privileges, of homes for the 
unfortunate aud destitute, of everything of which heart 
and brain are capable to make man more happy or less 
unfortunate by placing in his way an incentive for a 
better life and a higher attainment of moral as well as 
material elements of strength. Those who hover about 
the hospital wards, and minister to the sick and poor ? 
who creep into dangerous places to rescue the neglected 
and the fallen, those who are never so happy as in con- 
verting their genius and accumulations into institu- 



AND TEUTHFUL ECHOES. 153 

tions of learning and charity, those who strive to im- 
prove the social conditions of man, those whose high- 
est ambition is to spend themselves in the service for 
righteous causes — they are the ones who are truly 
great. 

The aim of the theosophical society is to establish a 
universal brotherhood of man and also to make theoso- 
phy the universal religion; but a religion to be univer- 
sally accepted must be free from all speculation and 
contradiction, and as theosophy, like all speculative 
philosophy, contains many contradictions and absurdi- 
ties (and the theory of reincarnation is one of them), 
therefore theosophy will never become the universal 
religion. There is some good in all religions. Most of 
their ethical teachings are good, and if dogma and su- 
perstition were removed then they could all be merged 
into one and we would have a religion acceptable to all 
people. Why? Because all persons must acknowledge 
that which is true. 

But the devotees of the old superstitious nonsense 
ask, If we remove superstition from religion, what is 
left of it? The answer is, Common sense. Then thay 
ask, If we take from them the Bible, what will we give 
to them in its stead? We will give to them the Book: 
of Nature. Then they askjus, what will they do with 
their priests?. The only thing they can do is to provide 
them with harps and send them to heaven. Then they 
ask us, with what will we replace the priests? We will! 
replace them with men of scientific attainments. Who- 
will interpret the Book of Nature? Science has wrought 
miracles for us; science shows what vast power resides 
in man to overcome the evil conditions of Nature and 
the evil states in himself; science teaches how to> 



154 THE VOICE OF REASON 

overcome physical evils. Diseases destroy us until we 
make a study of them and learn how to control and 
prevent them; then they disappear. 

A universal brotherhood of man is impossible unless 
there is a universal religion. It is religious antagonism 
which keeps humanity apart. If people would cease 
looking for a God in the sky and seek the God which is 
in Nature ami study his laws, it would be much more 
beneficial to them. Why? Because the God in the sky 
is a myth, but the one in Nature is a reality and of 
much benefit to humanity. The God in the sky is sup- 
posed to have spoken to a few barbarians, but the one 
in Nature speaks to all creatures. The intelligent ear 
can hear the voices of Nature singing the praises of 
him in one harmonious strain. There is no speech, no 
language, where his voice is not heard. The whisper 
of the gentle breeze, the stormy wind fulfilling his 
word and the loud roll of the thunder, unite in softer or 
louder tones in one harmonious song of praise to him. 
Even the silent voices of the mountains and the hills, 
fruitful trees and cedars, beasts and all cattle, creeping 
things and flying fowl, all praise him. No matter where 
we look, we find the omnipresence and the omnipotence 
of this God. He who says that God spoke to him in any 
other language than that of Nature, is either a lunatic, 
or a liar. 

The God in the sky is supposed to teach us how to 
die, but the God in Nature teaches us how to live. 
What consolation has humanity received from the God 
in the sky, who for ages has looked on passively and 
deaf at its sorrows and left it to shift for itself? The 
God in Nature always responded to the cry of his creat- 
ures and alleviated their suffering, and when the God 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 155 

iq Nature does not respond to our wailing cry it is be- 
cause we are not in harmony with his laws, and most of 
our physical and social suffering is caused by not obey- 
ing his mandates. 

The God in the sky is to be pitied. Why? Because 
humanity lays all its shortcomings on his shoulders. 
The glutton says: "O Lord, why hast thou afflicted me 
with dyspepsia?" The drunkard, when he awakes from 
his stupor and has a violent headache, asks God why he 
endowed him with the appetite for strong drink. The 
thief blames God because he endowed him with a desire 
for stealing. If men would learn to govern their evil 
dispositions most of their troubles would vanish. 

Some people say that if God and all his laws are per- 
fect, and if he made man after his own image, why 
should man be evilly inclined? The answer is, that the 
God in the sky has no more to do with our evil inclina- 
tions than he had with forming us. It is about time 
for people to know that this God has nothing whatever 
to do with human affairs. The student of Nature 
knows that there are two laws which keep everything 
in motion. Everything in Nature has its opposite. 
Darkness is the opposite of light, pain is the opposite 
of pleasure, virtue is the opposite of vice. There is at- 
traction and also repulsion, and if repulsion did not ex- 
ist there would be no attraction and all force would 
oease. Without desire the world in which we live would 
become as a stagnant pool devoid of life, as dead and 
cold as inanimate clay, and human beings but as life- 
less motes that are blown aimlessly about by the capri- 
cious wind of an ever varying atmosphere, therefore 
Nature endowed its creatures with desire. The student 
of Nature knows that we are not a separate thing in the 



156 THE VOICE OF TtEASON 

universe, but part of it, therefore are we subject to the 
same laws as other things in it. 

We are endowed with two forces: one is desire and 
passion, the other is conscience; desire and passion is 
the attractive force and conscience is the repulsive 
force. The force of desire is of two natures: one is to 
do good, the other to do evil. The repulsive force 
which we call conscience has also two natures: it loves- 
virtue but hates vice, it encourages good deeds but re- 
pulses evil ones. I am positive that there is not a maa 
or a woman who has followed the dictates of conscience 
and resisted evil, but who has felt happy at the result. 
When we fall it is when the voice of conscience is lost 
in the whirlwind of passion and counsel is darkened by 
the tumultuous pleading of the heart,, therefore it is> 
better for us not to yield to evil desires. 

Conscience is the faculty by which we discern the 
moral quality of actions, and by which we are capable 
of certain affections in respect to this quality. We are 
conscious of the existence of beauty and deformity,, 
and, if we should be asked to choose from either of 
these, we would prefer the former instead of the latter; 
and why should we not choose virtue instead of vice? 
The one will lead us to glory, the other to destruction. 
I am sure that there is no man or woman who has vio- 
lated his or her moral conscience without compunction, 
or without the feeling of guilt and the consciousness 
of desert of punishment. Conscience is the voice 
within us that is advising and urging us to do good 
and not evil. The action of conscience is, in this re- 
spect, analogous to that of passion. When, by a partic- 
ular indulgence, we can gratify a passion — whether 
the act be right or worng — passion urges us to do it r 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 157 

conscience says do it not; and thus passion and con- 
science are frequently brought into direct collision. 
Conscience perceives in the act which passion urges us 
to do the element of wrong, and bids us, saying, do it 
not. Thus are we placed between two impulses, free 
to determine to which we shall yield, and it is upon 
this determination that our happiness or misery de- 
pends. This determination and its consequent action 
are attended by results either pleasant or painful. If 
we successfully resist the impulse of passion, and 
thus escaped temptation by obeying the impulse of 
conscience, then it becomes a souree of pleasure. It 
is a pleasure to know that we have done the right 
thing, and gained a victory over our inner propensi- 
ties, and of just approbation and consciousness of good 
desert. If, on the contrary, we have obeyed the im 
pulse of passion and disobeyed the impulse of con- 
science, the pain which we suffer is also distinct and 
peculiar. It is the pain of self-disapprobation, of 
shame, of consciousness of guilt which we cannot oblit- 
erate Remorse overtakes us which is all the time 
gnawing at our hearts. This pain is excited by a sense 
of guilt from which there is no escape. By resisting 
our unlawful desires, we become free men and women, 
and by giving way to our passions we become slaves. 
What man or woman would not prefer freedom to 
slavery? therefore, for our own benefit, it is advisable 
for us to lead a virtuous and noble life. 

We must remember that the achievements of man- 
kind stand like silent sentinels on the shores of time, 
while the swift stream of life goes hurrying on. It is 
well that the records of our lives and deeds are thus 
graven on the monuments of the past; though they are 



158 THE VOICE OF REASON 

forgotten for the moment, they are never effaced, but 
flash out in the light of each succeeding generation 
with a clearness that is oftentimes startling; therefore 
we must try to keep our record clear and improve on 
the past, and by so doing we will leave a grand and 
noble legacy to posterity. Our religion should be one 
of fraternal feeling which should inspire and ennoble 
us all. Our humanity should be as boundless as the 
skies, where every thought should exhale the fragrance 
of love and hope, teaching the lesson to all mankind 
of humanity and love. 



lnriORTALITY, OR CONTINUED 
EXISTENCE. 



There have been many absurd ideas advanced at dif- 
ferent ages of the world as regards man's future state. 

The ancient Egyptian believed that, immediately 
after death, the soul descended into the lower world, 
and was conducted to the Hall of Truth, where it was 
judged in the presence of Osiris and of his forty-two- 
assessors, the Lords of Truth and Judges of the Dead^ 

Anubis, the son of Osiris, who was called the Direc- 
tor of the Weight, brought forth a pair of scales, and, 
after placing in one scale a figure or emblem of truth, 
set in the other a vase containing the good deeds of the 
deceased. Tath, standing with a tablet in his hand r 
recorded the result. If the good deeds weighed down 
the scale wherein they were placed, then the happy- 
soul was permitted to enter the boat of the Sun, and 
was conducted by the good spirits to the Elysian Fields,. 
the Pools of Peace, and the dwelling-place of the blest. 
If, on the contrary, the good deeds were insufficient, if 
the scale remained suspended in the air, then the un- 
happy soul was sentenced, according to the degree of 
its deserts, to go through a round of transmigrations in 
the bodies of animals more or less unclean. 

The number, nature and duration of the transmigra- 
tions depended on the degree of the deceased's demerits, 
and the consequent length and severity of the punish- 
ment which he deserved, or the purification which he- 



160 THE VOICE OF REASON 

needed. If, after many trials, sufficient purity was not 
attained, the wicked soul, which had proved itself in- 
curable, underwent a final sentence at the hands of 
Osiris, Judge of the Dead; and, being condemned to 
complete and absolute annihilation, was destroyed upon 
the steps of heaven by Shu, the Lord of Light. 

The good soul, having been freed from its infirmities, 
by passing through the basin of purgatorian fire, 
guarded by the four ape-faced genii, was made the 
companion of Osiris for a period of three thousand 
years, after which it returned from Amenti and re- 
entered its former body, rose from the dead, and lived 
•once more a human life upon the earth. 

This process was gone through many times until a 
certain mystic cycle of years became complete, when, 
to crown all, the good and blessed attained the final 
juy of union of God, being absorbed into the divine es- 
sence from which they had once emanated, and so at- 
taining the full perfection and true end of their exist- 
ence. 

It was this belief which led the ancient Egyptians to 
prepare elaborate tombs, as each man hoped to be 
among those who would be received into Aahlu, and, 
after dwelling with Osiris for three thousand years, 
would return to earth, and re-enter their old bodies. 
It was requisite that bodies should be enabled to resist 
decay for that long period, hence the entire system of 
embalming, of swathing in linen, and then burying in 
stone sarcophagi covered with lids that it was almost 
impossible to lift; hence, if a man was wealthy, he 
spent enormous sums in making himself a safe and 
commodious, an elegant and decorated, tomb, either 
piling a pyramid over his sarcophagus, or excavating 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 161 

•deep into the solid rock, and preparing for his resting- 
place a remote chamber at the end of a long series of 
galleries, with the notion that it would be of use to him 
in his journey through Amenti to Aahlu. He also 
took good care to have the most important passages 
from the sacred book, entitled the "Ritual of the Dead" 
either inscribed on the inner part of the coma in which 
he was to lie, or painted on his mummy bandages, or 
engraved upon the inner walls of his tomb. Sometimes 
he had a complete copy of the book buried with him 
for reference in case his memory failed to supply him 
with the right invocation or prayer at the most danger- 
ous parts of his long journey. 

The Assyrians and Babylonians believed that the 
good soul, after leaving the body, becomes clad in a 
white, radiant garment, and proceeds to the abode of 
the gods and dwells in their presence, partaking of 
celestial food in the abode of blessedness. 

On the other hand, Hades is the receptacle of the 
wicked after death, Hades is described as an abode of 
darkness and of famine; it is the place where earth is 
men's food and their nourishment is clay, where light 
is never seen but they dwell in darkness, where ghosts, 
like birds, flutter their wings and on the door and door- 
posts the dust lies undisturbed. According to this de- 
scription the Assyrian Hades is not half so lively a place 
as the Christian hell. 

The ancient Iranians entertained the belief that im- 
-mediately after death the souls of men, both good and 
bad, proceeded together. There was a narrow road 
-conducting to heaven over which the souls of the good 
alone could pass, while the wicked fell from it into the 
gulf below, where they found themselves in the place 



162 THE VOICE OF REASON 

of punishment. A pious soul was assisted across the 
bridge by the good anget Serash, who went out to meet 
the weary wayfarer and sustained his steps as he ef- 
fected the difficult passage. The prayers of his friends 
in this world much availed the deceased, and helped 
him forward greatly on his journey. 

As he entered, the angel Vouh-marto rose from his 
throne and greeted him with the words, "How happy 
art thou who hast come here to us, exchanging mor- 
tality for immortality!" Then the good soul went joy- 
fully onward to the golden throne, to Paradise. 

As for the wicked, when they fell into the gulf, and 
found themselves in outer darkness, in the kingdom of 
Angro-Mainyus, where they were forced to remain in a 
sad and wretched condition. 

The Etruscans worshiped the spirits of their ances- 
tors. Each house had its chapel, where the master of 
the household offered prayer and worshiped every 
morning, and made occasional sacrifice; each family 
had its family tomb, constructed on the model of a 
house, in which the spirits of its ancestry were re- 
garded as residing. These tombs were an exact imita- 
tion of the houses. There was usually an outer vesti- 
bule, appropriated to the annual funeral feast. From 
this a passage led to a large central chamber, which 
was lighted by windows cut through the rock. The 
central hall was surrounded by smaller chambers, in 
which the dead reposed. On the roof were carved, in 
stone, the broad beam or roof-tree, with rafters imitating 
in relief on the other side, and even imitations of the 
tiles. These chambers contained the corpses, and' 
were furnished with all the implements, ornaments 
and utensils used in life. These tombs were, in fact, 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 163 

the places for the dead to live in. The position and 
surrounding of the deceased were made to approximate 
as near as possible to the conditions of life. The 
couches on which the corpses reposed had a triclinial 
arrangement, and were furnished with cushions carved 
in stone, and imitations of easy chairs and footstools 
were carefully hewn out of the rock. Everything was 
arranged as if the dead were reclining at a banquet in 
their accustomed dwellings. 

On the floor stood wine-jars, and the most precious 
belongings of the deceased — arms, ornaments and 
mirrors — hung from the roof, or were suspended on 
the walls. The walls themselves were richly decorated,, 
being painted with representations of festive scenes; 
figures in gaily embroidered garments reclined on 
couches, while attendants replenished the gobiets, or 
were beating time to the music of the pipers. Nothing 
Was omitted which conduced to the amusement or com- 
fort of the deceased. 

These tombs were not permanently closed. It was 
customary for the surviving relatives to visit the rest- 
ing-place of their departed relatives once a year, and 
to carry offerings to them as tokens of affectionate re- 
gard, and solicit their favor and protection. 

The Etruscans believed tha": the spirits of their an- 
cestors had great power in shaping the destinies of the 
living, and therefore brought presents to propitiate 
them, and thereby gain their favor. Ths presents in- 
cluded portraits, statues, cups, dishes, and all kinds of 
food and drink, so that the departed spirits might be 
able to refresh themselves whenever they felt hungry 
or thirsty. There is no doubt but that the so-called 
civilized people of to-day would consider the Etruscans- 



164 THE VOICE OF REASON 

a foolish people, yet their own idea as regards the im- 
mortality of the scul is just as nonsensical. 

It seems to me that the Servians are the descendants 
of the Etruscans. The reason why I think so is that 
they eat heartily during their lifetime, and it seems 
that they are expected to continue eating even after 
they are dead and buried. 

When a rich man dies in that country, his body is 
generally carried to the cathedral, the metropolitan 
and a number of priests take charge of the body, and a 
requiem is held for the repose of his soul. The friends 
of the deceased are provided with burning tapers, 
which is emblematic of the living soul of the dead. 
The priests stand around a small circular table draped 
with black, and on it is placed a mysterious sort of a 
dish. The priests chant, and the choir responds from 
a gallery above, with slow, sad music, while the crowd 
stand with bowed heads, silently holding their burning 
tapers. At the end of this ceremony the priest takes a 
decanter and pours some red wine out in the form of 
a cross over the dish, then an attendant comes around 
with a tray, in which, after extinguishing it, each per- 
son deposits his candle. Then the dish is removed 
to the door of the cathedral, where it is held by one 
of the relatives of the departed. One by one, the 
crowd file past the dish, and take the spoon and 
help themselves to a mouthful. This dish contains 
boiled wheat, sweetened, strongly flavored with spices 
and moistened with wine; this is the food for the 
dead. Whatever remains in the dish is taken to the 
cemetery and put on the grave. Just as the Indian 
is buried with his bow and arrow, so that he may be 
ully equipped for the happy hunting-grounds, so the 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 16o~ 

Servian is provided with food by his loving relatives 
for his long and last journey to the land from whence 
not traveler returns. 

Food of all sorts, such as meats, cakes, corn, pastry, 
and wine, is taken to the cemetery and brought to the 
grave of the departed. The wine is poured onto the 
grave in the shape of the cross; but instead of wasting 
the food by leaving it to rot on the ground, the people 
who pass by are invited to eat for the repose of tbe- 
departed. Thus, especially on Saturdays, when many 
persons visit the graves of lost relations, a great num- 
ber of poor people flock to the cemeteries, and there, 
in memory of the dead, are given all sorts of food. 

As it would be considered a very bad omen to bring 
back any of the food to the house, the mourners are 
always eager to find people who will accept what they 
have taken to the cemetery. First they help their 
■friends, out of courtesy, and then help liberally any 
poor person who may be at hand; and thus, in a man- 
ner which does not humiliate, are the poor relieved in 
honor of the dead. 

There is much to be said in favor of this custom; a 
bowl of stewed wheat or a plateful of mutton chops 
may not seem as poetical as a wreath of flowers, but 
they confer an equal honor on the dead, while they are 
infinitely more useful to the living. 

The Christian's conceptions of a future life and of 
heaven and hell, the abodes of the good and wicked, 
are more vivid than those of their Pagan predecessors. 
They accepted and intensified the ancient ideas. They 
did not doubt that in the world to come they would 
meet their friends, and hold converse with them, as 
they had done here upon earth. Such a conception,- no 



166 THE VOICE OF REASON 

doubt, gives consolation to the human heart; it recon- 
ciles it to the most sorrowful bereavements, but to him 
who looks at facts and reconciles himself to the inexo- 
rable laws of Nature this conception of a future life is 
too absurd for anything. 

The question is, what are they gone to meet? Are 
they gone to meet their father, mother, brother, sister, 
wife and husband? We all know that after death the 
body disintegrates, and we also know that the differ- 
ence in construction of our bodies is what makes the 
difference of sex, and if the sex-principle is obliterated, 
how can they identify their loved ones? 

Many different opinions are held as regards what be- 
comes of the soul in the interval between its separation 
from the body. Some think that it hovers over the 
grave; others, that it wanders disconsolately through 
the air. The Roman Catholic Church has invented a 
place for the departed spirits, which it calls purgatory. 
This is the temporary abode of the departed Purga- 
tory has formed the lucrative domain of the Roman 
Catholic priests, who have pretended, by mystic rites, 
to provide the dying with a passport to celestial bliss. 
But this celestial happiness cannot be obtained without 
paying well for it. Every low mass costs one dollar, 
and every high mass, twenty-five dollars. The high 
mass is much more efficacious than the low one, but 
the latter has been invented for the poor, so that they 
can facilitate the departed soul to heaven on the in- 
stalment plan. 

The door-keeper at the gate of heaven is a gentle- 
man by the name of Peter, who, while on this earth 
was one of the most miserable wretches that ever dis- 
graced the human race; and to this scoundrel is given 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 167 

the power to admit or exclude the spirits of men at his 
pleasure. 

The belief in the immortality of the soul has been a 
part of most of the religions. Thus the Vedic theology 
is based on the acknowledgment of a universal spirit 
pervading all things. This supreme spirit is supposed 
to be of the same nature as the soul of man, and that 
the soul is an emanation of all-pervading intellect, and 
therefore is destimed to be re-absorbed into the univer- 
sal mind. They consider this supreme something to be 
without form and that all visible Nature, with its beau- 
ties and harmonies, is only the shadow of God. 

Buddhism admits that there is a supreme power, 
but denies that a supreme being exist*; it contemplates 
the existence of force, which manifests itself in matter. 
Buddhism adopts the theory of emanation and absorp- 
tion. If we should interrogate Budehists as regards what 
has become of the soul, they ask us, what has become 
of the flame or the burning candle, and in what condi- 
tion was it before it was lighted? They say that the 
idea of personality which has deluded us through life 
may not be instantaneously extinguished at death, but 
is lost by slow degrees, and at length reunion with the 
universal mind takes place. Nirvana is reached, obliv- 
ion is attained; a state that has no relation to matter, 
space or time; the state into which the departed flame 
of the extinguished personality has gone; the state in 
which we were before we were born, which is the re- 
absorption in the universal force. According to the 
light of Nature, this seems to be the only true solution 
of this intricate problem. 

People say that man is composed of two portions, a 
soul and a body. The soul is regarded by them as the 



168 THE VOICE OF REASON 

active principle which calls a new body into existence- 
out of nothing, and that God, at every new birth r 
creates a new soul. This idea is revolting in the ex- 
treme, to think that God is a servitor to the caprices 
and lusts of man, and that at a certain term after its 
origin it is necessary for him to create for the embryo 
a soul. 

Comparative physiology holds the key to this prob- 
lem — whether or not man is composed of a body and 
soul. When the body of an animal is examined it is 
at once seen to consist of many parts, more or less 
distinct from one another. These parts differ in form r 
in appearance, in the way they are built up. These 
parts not only differ in appearance, but also in struct- 
ure. Every part of the animal has eertain functions 
which differ from one another in the purposes they 
serve, and in the use they are to the animal. . The 
liver, the stomach, the brain, and the eyes are examples 
of the organs. The different organs of an animal are 
not of the same structure throughout its substance, but 
consist of parts differing both in the materials of 
which they are composed, and in the building up of 
these materials. 

These different kinds of structures are called tissues* 
Some tissues contribute to the several different organs. 
Muscular tissue occurs not only in what are specially 
called muscles, but also in the stomach, the intestines,, 
the bladder, the eye, and in many other organs. Wheo 
a tissue is examined with a microscope, it is found to 
consist of a number of cells, built up together, and 
each tissue differs from tne other in the nature of its 
cells, and in the way in which it is connected with the 
others. 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 169 

The cells of the tissues of a living animal consist of 
living material, and this is called protoplasm. Most 
tissues are made up of different chemical substances, 
such as albumen, sugar, fat, common salt, water — 
which are examples of substances occurring in tis- 
sues. There are simple and compound substances. 
Compound can be divided, but simple substances can- 
not be divided; these are called elements. Thus we 
see that the body of an animal is made up of many 
elements, for the most part united to one another to 
form compound substance. 

The body ot an animal consists of substances of the 
same kind as those present in its food, that is, of pro- 
teids and carbohydrates. The animal, in order to live, 
must be supplied with certain elements, that is, with 
those found in the body. The only element which it 
can take up in the free state is oxygen, and by the 
lungs only. The other elements must be received united 
with one another in the. form of definite chemical sub" 
stances. Proteids supply nitrogen, carbon and hydro* 
gen: carbohydrates and fats supply carbon and hy- 
drogen. 

The amount of material leaving the body must equal 
the amount entering it during the same time. The 
body loses material by the lungs, skin and kidneys, and 
it gains material by the lungs and from the food taken 
into the alimentary canal, about one-tenth of which 
does not enter the substance of the body at all, but 
merely passes along the alimentary canal. The object 
of the food is to supply the daily loss of substances 
containing the elements, such as carbon, nitrogen, hy- 
drogen and oxygen. 

The blood is another element which is necessary for 



170 THE VOICE OF REASON 

the support of life. The blood carries to the tissues all 
the nourishment which these require. The cells of 
which the tissues consist get all the material they re- 
quire for the building up of their own substance and 
the oxygen they need for their life, from the blood, 
and give to the blood the waste substances and the car- 
bonic acid which they cast off. 

In order to bring to the tissues a proper supply of 
food, the blood must pass through the organs which re- 
ceive the food the animal eats; it must also pass through 
the lungs to get oxygen from the air, and in order to 
get rid of the waste substances it must pass through the 
organs whose function it is to remove these. Thus we 
see the necessity for the circulation of the blood. 

The action of the heart. The cardiac muscle-fibres 
contract like other muscle-fibres, that is, they become 
shorter and correspondingly thicker, since they form 
the walls of a cavity. When they contract they cause 
a diminution in the size of the cavity, the wall becom- 
ing thicker. A beat of the heart is caused by the con- 
traction of the walls of the auricles and of the vantri- 
cles; the two auricles contract at the same time and 
then immediately afterward the two ventricles contract 
at the same time; then there is a pause, during which 
the auricles and ventricles are both relaxed, then a 
contraction of the auricles occurs again, followed imme- 
diately by a contraction of the ventricles, and then 
there is another pause. The two auricles always con- 
tract together and the two ventricles do likewise, so 
that the events taking place in the heart on the left side 
are similar to those taking place on the right side. 

The right auricle receives its blood from the superior 
vena cava and the inferior vena cava; when it becomes 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 171 

full, the right auricle contracts and drives the blood 
into the right ventricle. The auricle begins to contract 
just around the openings of the veins, so that it 
squeezes together their openings, and then the contrac- 
tion runs over the whole auricle toward the opening 
into the ventricle. The blood, owing to this, cannot 
get back into the veins but is forced into the ventricle; 
the right ventricle, thus filled with blood, at once be- 
gins to contract. One of the first effects of the press- 
ure thus set up is to force blood behind the flaps of the 
tricuspid valve. This brings the flaps together and so 
•closes the way back to the auricle. 

When the walls of the ventricles contract, the papil- 
lary muscles forming part of the walls contract also 
and thus tighten the cords attached to them; these pull 
on the flaps of the tricuspid valve and prevent them 
from being forced back into the auricle. The contrac- 
tion of the ventricle very soon exerts enough pressure 
to force open the semilunar valves of the pulmonary 
artery, and then it drives the blood into that vessel. 
It cannot open the semilunar valves at once because 
the pulmonary artery is already full and distended with 
blood. Soon the ventricle gets up enough pressure to 
open them, and keeps strongly contracting until it has 
forced the blood into the artery. This it does partly by 
forcing the blood in the pulmonary artery still more so 
as to make room for the fresh quantity of blood. When 
the ventricle has emptied, or nearly emptied, itself, it 
begins to relax. The pockets of the semilunar valve 
are full of blood, and now the great pressure of the 
blood in the pulmonary artery presses them together 
and closes the way so that no blood flows back into the 
ventricle. While the ventricle is contracting, the auri- 



172 THE VOICE OF REASON 

cle relaxes, and the blood flows into it again from the 
veins. This goes on until the auricle is full, then it 
contracts and drives the blood into the ventricle, which 
by this time is relaxed, and the same events occur 
again. More and more blood is thus driven by the 
right ventricle into the pulmonary artery, so that the 
blood which is already in the artery must be forced on. 
through the branches of the artery, through the capilla- 
ries of the lungs and along the vein3 from the lungs- 
back to the left auricle. It is the force of the right 
ventricle alone which drives the blood round the pul- 
monary circulation back to the left auricle. 

The blood flows from the pulmonary veins into the 
left auricle, and when the left auricle is full it contracts- 
in the same manner and at the same time as the right 
ventricle. DirecUy its contraction begins the blood i& 
forced behind the flaps of the mitral valve, pressing the 
flaps together and so blocking the way back to the left 
auricle. The papillary musc.es contract also, tighten- 
ing the tendinas curds in the same way as in the right 
ventricle. Soon tho contraction of the left ventricle 
has got up enough pressure to open the semilunar 
valves of the aorta, and then ir forces the blood into the 
aorta. When it has nearly or quite emptied itself, it- 
relaxes and the semilunar valves of the aorta are clcs-ed 
by the great pressure in the aorta, keeping the pockets 
pressed together so that no blood returns to the ven- 
tnele. 

The aorta with its branches is distended with blood,, 
and as more and more blood is forced into it by the left 
ventricle the distension is kept up, and some of the 
blood already in it is forced along the branches, and so 
through the capillaries in all parts of the b©dy (except 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 173 

the lungs) into the veins, and Anally along the inferior, 
or superior, vaia cava to the right auricle. 

The left ventricle forces the blood all the way from 
the heart through all parts of the body (except the 
luns;s) back to the heart again. Much greater force is 
required to do this than to send the blood only through 
the lungs, because it has to drive blood through a much 
larger number of capillaries. The walls of the left ven- 
tricle are, therefore, much thicker than those of the 
right. 

The apex of the heart lies close to the chest wall, 
and, with each beat of the heart, i3 suddenly pressed 
against it; this striking of the chest wall by the apex 
of the heart is called the Cardiac impulse. 

The heart beats about seventy-two times a minute, 
and beats more quickly when work is being done, be- 
cause the tissues need more blood. The aorta, leaving 
the ventricles, and giving off the coronary arteries, 
first forms an arch — the arch of the aorta— from which, 
in man, three large branches are given off. The first of 
these, a large one on the right side, immediately divides 
into two, one of which, called the right subclavian ar- 
tery, goes to the right arm, while the other, called the 
right carotid artery, goes to the right side of the neck 
and head. The aorta then gives off from the arch of 
the left carotid artery, to the left side of the neck and 
head, and, farther on, the left subclavian artery to the 
left arm. Continuing to arch backward toward the 
spine, the aorta runs downward through the thorax 
giving off branches to the walls of the thorax and to 
the bronchial tubes of the lungs, and, piercing the dia- 
phragm, enters the abdomen. In the abdomen it gives 
branches to all the abdominal organs and to the walls 



174 THE VOICE OF REASON 

of the abdomen, and then divides in two main arteries, 
one for each leg. 

The veins bringing the blood back from the arms 
unite to form the right and left subclavian veins, and 
the veins of the head and neck unite to form veins, 
the largest of which are the external jugular veins, one 
on each side. The subclavian, jugular and other veins 
of each side unite, and the two large veins so formed 
join to form the superior vena cava, which empties its 
blood into the right auricle. 

The large veins from the legs unite to form the infe- 
rior vena cava, which passes up the abdomen, receiving 
the veins from the kidneys, and close below the dia- 
phragm a large vein, the hepatic vein, from the liver; 
it then pierces the diaphragm and reaches tke right 
auricle. 

The veins from all the other abdominal organs, 
namely, the stomach, the small intestine, the large in- 
testine, the spleen and the pancreas, unite to form a 
large vein, called the portal vein. The portal vein 
runs to the liver. In the liver the portal vein breaks 
up into capillaries, and its blood mingles with the blood 
brought to the liver direct from the aorta The blood 
flows from the liver by the hepatic vein to the inferior 
vena cava. So the blood from these abdominal organs 
only reaches the inferior vena cava to return to the 
heart, after it has passed through a second set of capil- 
laries in the liver. 

Thus far we have found no trace of a soul in the 
human body; but, as some claim that the soul resides 
in the brain, we will examine this organ, and see if 
such is the case. The brain and the spinal cord, with 
the nerves proceeding from them, constitute the nerv- 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 175 

ous system of the body, the braiu and spinal cord being 
the central organs, form, taken together, the central 
nervous system. 

The nerves which carry impulses to the central nerv- 
ous system are called afferent nerves, those which 
carry from it are called efferent nerves. The nerves 
which carry to the central nervous system impulses 
from the skin or from the organs of the special senses 7 
such as the eye or ear, are afferent nerves, and, since 
these impulses arouse in us the sensations of touch or 
hearing, are sensory nerves. The nerves which carry 
impulses from the central nervous system to the mus- 
cles are efferent nerves, and, if the impulses are such 
as to cause muscles to contract, are motor nerves. 

A nerve-fibre consists of a central strand of soft, 
semi-solid protoplasmic substance. This is covered 
by two sheaths — the inner sheath, the one next to the 
axis cylinder, is formed of a fatty nature. The axis 
cylinder in the centre of each fibre is a continuous 
strand, which generally extends all the way from the 
central nervous system to the end of the nerve fibre in 
the muscle or skin or sense organ. 

On some nerves, usually not far from their origin 
from the central nervous system, or near their ending 
in the various organs, there is situated a small, knot- 
like swelling; this enlargement is called a ganglion. 
The microscope shows this ganglion iutermingled with 
the nerve-fibres, or lying round them ; these are the 
nerve-cells. The cell-substance contains a large, round 
nucleus. These are the elements of nervous tissue as 
seen in nerves and ganglia, non-medulated nerve-fibres 
and nerve-cells, and of these elements the brain and 
spinal cord are made up. 



276 THE VOICE OF REASON 

The brain is protected by the bones which form the 
wails of the cavity of the cranium, and the spinal cord 
is protected by the vertebrae which form the walls of 
the vertebral canal in which the spinal cord lies. The 
bony walls of these cavities are lined by a tough, 
fibrous membrane, which serves as the inside of the 
bones, and is called the dura mater. The brain and 
spinal cord themselves are closely covered by a delicate 
vascular membrane, called the pia mater, from which 
they receive blood vessels. Between the pia mater and 
the dura mater is a space containing a little lymph-like 
fluid and some loose connective tissue attached partly 
to one and partly to the other membrane. This loose 
connective tissue forms a third membrane, which is 
called the arachnoid membrane. 

The spinal cord is a column of soft substance from 
the brain downward along the spinal canal. In man, 
it is about eighteen inches long, and about half an inch 
across it. It runs along the front of the cord in a deep 
groove, called the auterior fissure, and along the back 
of the cord another deep cleft, called the posterior fis- 
sure, runs. The two fissures extend into the cord so 
far that they nearly meet, leaving only a narrow bridge 
of tissue connecting the two halves. In the centre of 
this bridge of tissue is a small canal, called the central 
canal which runs along the middle of the cord. Con- 
nective tissue from the pia mater passes into the fis- 
sures, carrying in with it, blood vessels which, like 
other vessels from the pia mater at the surface of the 
cord, pass into the substance of the cord, and so supply 
it with blood. 

The spinal cord is composed partly of a white-looking 
substance lying on the outside, and partly of gray-look- 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 177 

ing substance lying on the inside. In each half of the 
•cord, on each side of the fissures, the gray and the 
white matter are correspondingly placed, so that the 
appearance of one-half is exactly that of the other. 

From the spinal cord, at intervals along its length, 
branch off the spinal nerves. These nerves consist of 
thirty-one pairs: two pair of nerves arise at the same 
level, one from each side of the cord. Each nerve 
springs from two roots: one, the anterior root, from the 
front part; and the other, the posterior root, from the 
hinder part of its half of the cord. The roots divide 
the white matter of each half of the cord into three 
portions, called anterior and posterior columns of the 
white matter; the anterior and posterior roots unite to 
form the nerve trunk, which passes out of the spinal 
canal between the arch of one vertebra and that of the 
next, is distributed to certain muscles and to a certain 
part of the skin of the limbs or the trunk. Just before 
the roots of each nerve join, there is a knot-like en- 
largement on the posterior root. This is the ganglion 
of the posterior root. The nerve-cells of the ganglia 
give off one process only, which, by a T-shaped junc- 
tion, becomes continuous with a nerve-fibre passing 
through the ganglion. 

The white matter of the spinal cord consists, with a 
very little intermingled connective tissue, entirely of 
nerve-fibres, the majority of which run along the length 
of the cord. In the gray matter there are a number of 
similar but generally fine white, medullated nerve- 
fibres. These, however, run in various directions. 

Some of the nerve-fibres in the spinal nerve-trunk 
carry impulses from the skin to the spinal cord, and 
carry impulses from the spinal cord to the muscles. 



178 THE VOICE OF REASON 

Some of the fibres are sensory, and some are motor. 
These two kinds of fibres run together down the nerve 
trunk, parting company at length, to go to the particu- 
lar portion of the skin and the particular muscles sup- 
plied by that nerve. As the nerve-trunk is traced back 
to the spinal cord it is found that, at the junction 
of the two roots, the sensory and motor fibres are 
sorted out, and that all the sensory fibres pass into the 
cord by the posterior root, and all the motor fibres by 
the anterior root. The posterior root is the sensory , 
and the anterior the motor, root of the spinal nerve. 
If the posterior root of the spinal nerve is injured or 
cut across, the prick of a pin or the heat of a burning 
coal, be applied to that portion of the skin to which 
the nerve goes, there is no pain felt at all. Why? 
Because the connection of the sensory fibres of the 
nerve with the spinal cord has been broken; hence no 
sensory nervous impulses can reach the spinal coid r 
and so the brain, from the nerve. Motor im- 
pulses, which pass from the spinal cord along the 
anterior root, can be transmitted just as well as before 
the posterior root was cut, and lead, as before, to the 
contraction of the muscles to which the nerve goes; 
but if the anterior root, and not the posterior one, is 
injured or cut across, these motor impulses cannot 
pass, and the corresponding muscles cannot be set in 
action; they are paralyzed in this case. However,, 
sensory impulses can pass from the skin to the cord, 
and so to the brain, as well as before. Pain can be felt 
in that part of the body to which the nerve goes, but no 
movement can be produced there. 

If the spinal cord be cut across about in the middle 
of the back, the person will be unable to move his legs. 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 179' 

or any part of his body which is supplied by nerves 
whicn arise from the cord below the level of the injury. 
All parts below the level of the injury become para- 
lyzed, and the person so injured will be unable to feel 
the prick of a pin or a hot coal applied to his legs or 
to any part below the injury. The reason that he can- 
not feel any pain in that part of the body is because all 
sensation in that part has ceased. It is the function of 
the spinal cord to transmit to the brain the impulses it 
receives from the sensory nerves. When the cord is 
severed from the brain, these impulses can no longer 
pass upward; and when a person wishes to move a 
leg or other part of his body, impulses are started in 
the brain and transmitted downward along the spinal 
cord, and cause motor impulses to pass out along the 
anterior roots of the spinal nerves going to the appro- 
priate muscles. When the cord is severed from the 
brain, these impulses can no longer pass downward. 

A person whose spinal cord is injured at the level of 
the first rib still goes on breathing, but by means of the 
diaphragm only, since impulses from the respiratory 
centre of the spinal bulb cannot pass down to the 
intercostal nerves, which are branches of the spinal 
nerves of the thoracic region below the injury, but still 
can pass to the diaphragm by the phrenic nerves, which 
branch off from the spinal nerves by the cervical region 
above the injury. 

If the soles ef the feet of a person whose spinal cord 
is injured anywhere above the sacral region, be tickled, 
he will suddenly draw up the leg, though he cannot 
feel the tickling, and cannot, of his own will, draw up 
his legs. How this is brought about is, that the tickling. 
causes sensory impulses to pass up the sensory fibres 



180 THE VOICE OF REASON 

of the nerves along their posterior roots into spinal the 
cord. These impulses so act on the gray matter of the 
cord that they cause new impulses, motor impulses, to 
arise, and these pass from the gray matter of the an- 
terior and by the anterior roots, into the nerves going 
to the muscles of the leg, and so the muscles contract. 

These movements are produced without the action of 
the will or brain, for all connection with the brain has 
been destroyed by the injury. A movement produced 
by the spinal cord or brain, without the action of the 
will, and in consequence of sensory impulses brought 
to it, are the product of reflex action. A large num- 
ber of the movements we perform are brought about 
by reflex action. If a strong light is flashed across the 
eyes, they are instantly closed; if the hand comes in 
contact with a hot body, it is at once drawn away; ii a 
sudden sound is heard, we start. These are instances 
of reflex action. These movements are produced by 
the central nervous system without the action of the 
will, and in consequence of sensory impulses reach- 
ing it. 

Some of these are instances of reflex action carried 
out, not by the spinal cord alone, but by the interven- 
tion also of the brain. Many movements of ordinary 
life which are started by the will, and therefore volun- 
tary, are often continued reflexly. Thus we can go to 
walking without thinking about it, every step being 
properly performed, the necessary muscles contracting 
because they received impulses from the central nervous 
system, regulated in accordance with sensory impulses 
received by the central nervous system, from the eye 
-or the ear, or due to the contact of the legs themselves 
with the ground. There are other involuntary move- 



AND TKUTHFUL ECHOES. 181 

ments, such as those of respiration, which are carried 
out or modified by reflex action, either of the spinal 
cord, or of some part of the brain. 

The brain is an organ consisting of several parts. 
The lowest part, the spinal bulb, is continuous with the 
spinal cord, and is somewhat like it in structure, but it 
is larger in diameter. It gradually increases in width 
from the spinal cord upwards. The bulb, in its natural 
position, gradually bends forward, so that the brain lies 
rather in a fore-and-aft direction than in an up-and- 
down direction, like the spinal cord. Springing from 
the side of the upper part of the bulb is a large mass 
which lies on the dorsal or hinder side of the bulb, 
and largely overlaps it downwards. This is called the 
cerebellum. Its surface is closely folded or plaited. 
The cerebellum is connected to the bulb, not only by 
nervous tissues passing into it from the bulb on each 
side, but also by a large bridge of tissue, consisting 
mostly of bundles of nerve-fibres, passing from one 
side to the o'.her, across the front of the upper part of 
the bulb. This bridge of tissue is called the pons. 
Some of the bundles of nerve fibres which make up the 
white matter of the spinal bulb pass from the bulb into 
the cerebellum, while other bundles pass straight on 
past the pons, forward and upward, connecting the 
bulb with the parts of the brain in front. 

Just above the pons, these bundles of fibres appear 
as two columns, called the crura cerebri, one on each 
side at the base of the lower side of the brain. These 
columns diverge from one another as they pass forward 
to the largest mass of the brain, the cerebral hemi- 
spheres. On the upper side of the crura cerebri, the 
brain substance is raised up into two pairs of rounded, 



3.82 THE VOICE OF TtEASON 

masses. In front of these are two large masses, one on 
each side, called the optic thalami, into or past which 
most of the fibres of the crura cerebri go. 

The cerebral hemispheres are two large masses, one 
on each side, separate from each other, except where 
they are joined together by a flattened band of nerve 
fibres running across from one hemisphere to the other. 
They are connected to the other parts of the brain 
chiefly by the crura cerebri, but also by the optic 
thalami. Towards the under surface or base of the 
hemisphere lie special structures, one on each side. 
The surface of the cerebral hemispheres is thrown into 
folds, called convolutions, with fissures, more or less 
deep, between them. 

The brain is composed of white and gray matter of 
tie same nature as the white and gray matter of the 
spinal cord. The arrangement of the white and gray 
matter varies in different parts of the brain, but is 
always the same in corresponding parts on the two 
sides. In the spinal bulb, the arrangement is like the 
arrangement in the cord, except that there is more 
gray matter relatively to the white. In each cerebral 
hemisphere the gray matter forms a layer at the sur- 
face, called the cortex, and the white matter which this 
layer covers consists chiefly of nerve fibres which are 
passing inwards from this surface gray matter all 
around. These fibres are largely collected into bundles 
at the lowest part of the hemisphere, forming the crura 
cerebri and other connections of the hemispheres with 
other parts of the brain. 

There are twelve pairs of nerves called the cranial 
nerves. These arise from the brain, one nerve of each 
pair arising from one side, and the other from the eor- 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 183 

responding part on the other side of the brain. The 
first pair, which are the nerves of smell, arise from the 
front 6i each cerebral hemisphere. The second pair 
are the nerves of sight. The third pair, which are the 
motor nerves, go to four of the muscles which move 
the eye-ball. The fourth pair are motor nerves, which 
go to one of the muscles which move the eye-ball. 
The fifth pair, which are trigeminal nerves, divide into 
three main divisions, arise by two roots, a motor root 
and a sensory root. The sensory root, like that of a 
spinal nerve, possesses a ganglion. The motor nerve 
is for the muscles of mastication, and the sensory 
nerve is for the mouth and tongue. The sixth pair, 
which are motor nerves, go to the external rectus 
muscle. The seventh pair — motor nerves-r-go to the 
muscles of the face, mouth and lips, and are called the 
facial. These muscles give rise to expression, by 
drawing upon and moving the skin of the face. The 
eighth pair are the auditory nerves. The ninth pair 
are the glosso-pharyngeal nerves, and are partly sensory 
and partly motor; the main sensory part goes to the 
tongue, and is the chief nerve of taste, and the motor 
part supplies the muscles of the pharynx. The tenth 
pair are large nerves which pass from the head down 
the neck to the thorax and abdomen, and are partly 
sensory. They give branches to the larynx, the lungs, 
the heart, the oesophagus, the stomach, the intestines 
and the liver. The eleventh pair are tfie spinal acces- 
sory nerves. They are motor nerves arising by many 
roots from the upper part of the spinal cord and then 
running upwards, gaining more fibres from the bulb 
before they pass out, as they do with vagus nerve; 
they go to certain muscles of the neck. The twelfth 



184 THE VOICE OF REASON 

are the hypoglossal nerves; they are motor nerves, and 
go to the muscles of the tongue. 

The spinal bulb, besides giving rise to so many of 
the cranial nerves, is, in many other ways, a very im- 
portant par. of the brain. The respiratory movements 
of the chest are not only regulated by but originated 
by nervous impulses arising in a part of the bulb, called 
the respiratory centre; and it is not the cause of the 
soul leaving the body which causes death. Death is 
caused when an injury to the bulb takes place and res- 
piration is stopped, which produces death. 

The beat of the heart is regulated by nervous im- 
pulses sent from the bulb, and the size of the small 
arteries is regulated by impulses sent along the vaso- 
motor nerves from a part of the spinal bulb, called the 
vaso-motor centre. There are, in addition to these r 
other parts of the bulb which govern the act of swal- 
lowing, the secretion of saliva and other processes. 
In addition to being the seat of these important regu- 
lating functions, the bulb forms the path through which 
all impulses from the cerebral hemispheres, and other 
parts of the brain must pass on their way to the spinal 
cord aad spinal nerves, and similarly the path for all 
impulses from the spinal nerves and spinal cord to the 
cerebral hemispheres. 

The nerve-fibres which carry motor impulses, de- 
scending from the brain to the spinal cord, cross over 
suddenly from one side to the other on their way 
through the spinal bulb, so that the fibres which carry 
motor impulses from the right cerebral hemisphere r 
having passed downward in the crua cerebri on the 
right side to the bulb, cross over in the bulb to the left 
side, and then continue downward in the white matter 
of the left side of the cord. 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 185 

Certain injuries to one cerebral hemisphere, for in- 
stance the right, such as the bursting of a blood vessel 
in it, cause paralysis of the opposite side of the body. 
In a similar way, sensory impulses received from one 
side, for instance the left side of the body, are carried 
by fibres in the white matter of the same, the left side 
of the spinal cord, and cross over, partly in the spinal 
cord itself, partly in the bulb, to the other side, and so 
reach the opposite, the right cerebral hemisphere, where 
they give rise to definite sensations. Sd it is that after 
certain injuries to the right cerebral hemisphere, im- 
pulses starting from the skin on the left side of the 
body do not give rise to sensations in the brain. The 
injury to one of the hemispheres causes both paralysis, 
or loss of voluntary movement, and loss of sensation on 
the opposite side of the body. 

The cerebral hemispheres are the seat of the percep- 
tions, of the intelligence and of the will. 

The spinal nerves on each side of the body, soon 
after they pass outside the vertebral column, give off a 
small, short branch, which goes to a row of ganglia, ly- 
ing on each side of the front of the vertebral column. 
Each ganglion is connected by nerve fibres to the 
ganglia above and below it, and so a chain of ganglia, 
called the sympathetic chain, is formed on each side, 
extending all the way from the base of the skull to the 
coccyx. 

There is, in the thoracic and lumbar regions, a gan- 
glion of each chain, corresponding, with great regular- 
ity to each spinal nerve, but in the cervical region many 
of them appear to be missing. From the sympathetic 
chain, on each side, nerve fibres pass in great numbers 
to the viscera of the abdomen and thorax. From 



186 THE VOICE OF REASON 

them, nerves are also given off which pass back ioto 
the spinal nerves, and others pass into some of the 
crauial nerves. These are thus distributed to the blood- 
vessels of the limbs, trunk, and other parts to which 
the spinal or cranial nerves go. 

The sympathetic nerves chiefly carry impulses which 
govern the muscular tissue of th^ viscera and the mus- 
cular coat of the small arteries of the various tissues. 
It is through the sympathetic nerves that the tone of 
the blood-vessels is kept up, by the action of the vaso- 
motor centre in the spinal bulb. The sympathetic 
nerves derive the impulses which they distribute from 
the central nervous system. These do not arise in the 
sympathetic itself. The impulses come out of the 
spinal cord by the anterior roots of the spinal nerves, 
and so pass by the short branches, spoken of above, 
into the sympathetic chains. 

We have fairly well analyzed the human body and 
found that it contains no soul. We have shown what 
causes it to move, to act, and to be conscious of its sur- 
roundings. The idea that a specially created soul en- 
ters the human body at the time of its birth is too ridic- 
ulous for contemplation. The student of Nature knows 
that the ovule from which the future being is to evolve 
consists of living matter, and that life is transmitted to 
the embryo by its living parent. 

The question is, What is the soul? Some claim that 
the soul is a spirit, but what a spirit really is, they can- 
not tell. But we can. A spirit is a phantom of the 
imagination and belongs to the Holy Ghost variety. It 
has no existence and therefore cannot be analyzed. 
Some claim that the mind is the soul and that it is a 
separate thing from the body. They admit that at 



AND TKUTHFUL ECHOES. 187 

death the body decays, but the mind, which is the soul- 
principle, continues forever. 

We will show that this theory is false; we will show 
that the mind is a product of the body and with the de- 
eay and dissolution of its material substratum, through 
which it has acquired a conscious existence and upon 
which it was dependent, ceases to exist at the fame time 
that consciousness ceases. 

It is one of the functions of the vesicular nervous 
material to relain traces of impressions brought to it by 
the organs of sense. The nervous ganglia are com- 
posed of that material, and this is the registering ap- 
paratus. They introduce the element of time into the 
action of the nervous mechanism. An impression, 
which without them would have ended in reflex action, 
is thereby delayed. 

Every intellectual act is the consequence of some 
preceding act. Two minds constituted alike and placed 
under the influence of the same enviroment must give 
rise to the same thought. The origination of a thought 
depends on certain conditions. It depends on antece- 
dent impressions and on the existing physical in- 
cidents. 

The action of every nerve centre depends upon an 
essential chemical condition, that is, oxidation. If the 
supply of arterial blood be stopped, only for a moment, 
the nerve mechanism loses its power; if, on the con- 
trary, it is increased, then the mind acts more energet- 
ically. External things also influence the mind to ac- 
tion. Space and time are some of the influences. The 
eye and the ear are organs which produce certain im- 
pressions upon the mind through these elaborate me- 
chanical structures. The mind becomes more precise 



188 



THE VOICE OF REASON 



than would be possible if the senses of touch alone were 
resorted to. 

The photographic process is a case where shadows of 
our friends, or landscape views, are retained on a silver 
or glossy surface. These shadows are apparently hid- 
den from our view, but by using a certain process we 
can make them come forth into the visible world. If 
these trivial impressions can thus be registered and pre- 
served On such an inorganic surface, how much more can 
it be preserved in the purposely constructed ganglion. 
The vestiges of impressions are gpthered by the sensory 
organs, and their impressions are conveyed to the gang- 
lion and are there registered. 

When we are asleep we are withdrawn from external 
influences, such as hearing and sight, and many other 
senses are inactive, but the never-sleeping mind looks 
over the ambrotypes which it has stored in the ganglion 
and constructs from them a dream. Thus brings the 
mind forth pictures of our departed friends, and many 
other scenes which we have viewed, and makes them ap- 
pear as tfivid as when we last beheld them. 

Although the mind seems to act independently of the 
body while we are asleep, yet we must not be carried 
away with the idea that the mind can exist without the 
body. The mind can only manifest its activity through 
the agency of living matter. Mind is generated through 
the instrumentality of the cerebral organs, and as long 
as the blood circulates through the body just so long 
will the mind remain active, but when the force which 
animated it is withdrawn the mind ceases to exist. The 
modification of the brain is accompanied by modi- 
fication of the mind, and destruction of the brain re- 
sults in the destruction of the mind also, and conscious- 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 189 

uess then ceases. The idea that thought can exist with- 
out a brain whereby to think is contrary to the laws of 
Nature, common sense and reason. 

Men's insatiable longing after existence has led them 
to dream of a life after death. Some carry their fool- 
ishness to such an extent that they think that they are 
the centre of the universe, and without them the earth 
would cease to revolve on its axis, the sun cease to give 
light and heat, that vegetation and all the animals would 
perish. What is man but an infinitesimal speck which 
forms an integral part of an infinite universe? 

"The stars are myriad suns that float, 
Each one a luminous golden mote ; 
And each within his little place 
About tbe loneliness of space, 
They float and drift, and swarm and swim, 
In human vision faint and dim, 
And still beyond our keenest eyes 
They throng a million other skies. 
Imagination fails, and thought 
Before the threshold halts distraught ; 
While o'er tbe spirit brood 
Ihe terrors of infinitude. 
And what is the earth? A satellite 
That whirls about ; a cosmic mite, 
A grain of dust, impalpable, 
Of which all space is silted full. 
And there's a man upon the earth 
Who prides himself on wealth or birth ; 
Who struts, his little breath elate, 
And cries: 'Behold me! I am great!' " 

The mere existence of a desire in man to prolong his 
being affords little assurance that the desire will be 
fulfilled; and the traditional belief that the soul is sep- 
arate from the body, breathed into the body by a spe- 
cial act of the Creator, is only fit as a story for the 
nursery-room to amuse infants with. 



190 THE VOICE OF REASON 

The student of Nature knows that soul and body are 
indivisible from each other. He knows that man'& 
nature being one, enfolded at first in the same embryo, 
advancing in all its parts and aspects through the' same 
stages to maturity, succumbs at last to the same decay. 

All organic forms, vegetable or animal, will remain 
unchanged only so long as the environment in which 
they are placed remains unchanged; and an alteration 
in the environment will also cause a modification in 
the organism; it is either entirely destroyed or trans- 
formed into some other substance. 

Every organic being has a place in a chain of events, 
and man is not an isolate being, but has his place in 
the vast orderly concourse of Nature. Nature shows 
that all things evolve from an extremely simple to a 
highly complex condition, and, when this is attained,. 
a gradual decline takes place and the integral becomes 
disintegrated, the particles of which it was constituted 
resolve themselves into their component parts. 

A person who is alive differs from one who is dead, 
inasmuch as he is constantly performing movements 
such as the movements in laboring movements of his 
limbs, and also movements of his chest, by which air 
is drawn into his body, and movements of his heart,, 
by which blood is circulated throughout his body. So 
long as these movements go on the person is alive, but 
when they stop the person is dead. 

A certain amount of force is required to suck air into 
the lungs and to pump blood through the body; that is,. 
a certain amount of energy has to be used to do this- 
work, and whether the person is at rest or at work, en- 
ergy is being expended so long as he is alive. 
' A piece of coal consists of carbon and hydrogen 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 191 

united with oue another and with other elements to 
form complex chemical substances. When a piece of 
coal is lighted, the carbon and hydrogen are separated 
by the breaking up of the complex arrangement of ele- 
ments, and unite with the oxygen of the air to form 
carbonic acid and water This breaking up of the com- 
plex substance of the coal, by the union of the carbon 
and hydrogen with oxygen, sets free energy — kinetic 
energy, as it is called, — in the form of heat and light, 
and so intense is the heat that we say that the coal 
burns. 

When elements or simple compounds are united into 
complex compounds, energy is stored up, and, when 
oxidation takes place and these compounds are broken 
down into simpler compounds again, such, for instance, 
as carbonic acid and water, the energy is again set free, 
and in this state it continues to exist. 

The dead body of a person also consists of substances 
formed by the union of carbon and hydrogen and other 
elements into very complex compounds. If the dead 
body be burned, oxygen unites with these elements, 
and oxidation taxes place, carbonic acid and water are 
formed, and only a small amount of incombustible ma- 
terial remains. Just as in the case of coal, that is, the 
ashes remain. The heat given out when the body is 
burned is energy set free by the oxidation of the com- 
plex chemical substances, and this energy continues to 
exist. 

The reason why the body of a living person is warm 
is that it is coustantly giving out energy as heat, the 
complex substances of the living body are constantly 
breaking down, and their oxidation is constantly taking 
place, forming in the same way carbonic acid and 



192 THE VOICE OF KEASON 

water; the breaking down of the complex substances 
and the oxidation in the living body are, however, tak- 
ing place gradually, so that the energy is set free little 
by little, and therefore, the amount of heat given off 
at any time is small. 

When a dead body is burned, the oxidation which 
takes place is sudden and intense, and so a high tem- 
perature is produced. But when the deid body of a 
person decays, an extremly slow oxidation of the sub- 
stances composing the body goes on; carbonic acid, 
water and ammonia are formed, and mostly pass away, 
until the same remnant is left, that is, the ashes. 

It may be poor consolation for some to know that 
they will continue to exist in a gaseous and mineral 
form, but can they abrogate the inexorable laws of 
Nature, and is such an existence any worse than that 
of a disembodied, so-called spirit? 

If, by doing away with the immortality of the soul,. 
we are deprived of celestial bliss, we also gain much 
by being spared the horrors of a hell, which, according 
to Christian dogma, is a place where the souls of those 
who do not believe in the divinity of Jesus, will suffer 
eternal torment. 

Listen to the ravings of some of the Christian theolo- 
gians, concerning those whose reason refuses to believe 
in this Christian absurdity as the man God. Here is a 
sample of their ravings: The everlasting flames of hell 
will not be thought too hot for the rebellious, and when 
they have there burned through millions of ages God 
will not bethink himself of the evil that has befallen 
them. Woe to the soul that is thus set up as a butt 
for the Almighty to shoot at, and as a bush that must 
burn in the flames of his jealousy and never be con- 



AND TRUTHFUL ECHOES. 193 

sunied! The guilt of their sins will be to damned souls 
like tinder to gunpowder to make the flames of hell to 
take hold of them with fury; but the greatest aggrava- 
tion of these torments will be their eternity. When a 
thousand million of ages are past, they are as fresh to 
begin as the first day, and one hour of torment in hell 
will be more insupportable than a hundred years of the 
severest sufferings on this earth. 

Such a doctrine puts God in the light of a monster 
of cruelty, exulting in the eternally protracted torture 
of helpless beings. The idea of eternal suffering of 
human beings because some of them have common 
sense enough to repudiate the Christian dogma i* too 
awful to contemplate. That a being so sensitive as 
man, and so capable of the most intense agony, should 
be eternally confined in a place of torment is too horri- 
ble even to imagine Such teaching of a hell- fire and 
eternal damnation can only originate in the brain of 
ihe most depraved. 



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